Pieces of the Whole
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: In a world where it's strange to have more than one soulmate Steve, Bucky, Peggy, Jack, Daniel, Angie, Edwin, and Anna have seven. But fate is cruel and the odds are stacked against them that this could ever work. So, most days they've learned to just be happy with the pieces of the whole that they can have. *soulmate AU. #1 of the Strength in Numbers Trilogy.*
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, here we go! A new soulmate AU trilogy, this one where soulmarks come in various colors and it's up to the bearers to decide among themselves if they want the bond to be romantic or platonic. Kudos to ozhawk for being an awesome beta and letting me bounce all of these ideas off of her! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Spring, 1920_

"Do you wanna come play?"

This was a perfectly normal – generic, even – question for one seven-year-old boy to ask another in the middle of a park. But Steve Rogers was too sick most of the time to be considered a "normal" boy, plus he was pretty sure that there was something important about the fact that this boy just said one of the many lines of words that littered Steve's body – the gray words, which as a seven year old, were Steve's favorite because he'd wanted to hear them for _so_ long.

There was something about all of his words that made him unusual too; he often heard his parents' worried whispers because he had seven sets of them... but wasn't that a good thing? He vaguely understood that they're supposed to have something to do with marriage and friends, and didn't more words just mean more friends? He knew that he didn't want to marry this boy like a lot people do when their words matched! But friends? He could be friends with him! He was just excited that someone had asked him to play – that he wanted to be his friend!

Wait… he did want to be _his_ friend, right? Steve looked around before asking the boy to make sure, "You wanna play with me? You're sure you want me?"

"Yeah, sure!" the boy answered happily, proudly showing him a set of wooden guns. "Playing soldiers is no fun with just one person."

"Okay," Steve said, smiling as he accepted one of the guns. "I'm Steve Rogers."

"I'm James Buchanan Barnes."

"That's a big name… can I call you Bucky?"

"I like that. Now, come on, let's go play."

And for a little while they did – until Steve felt it starting to get hard to breathe. He didn't want to stop playing – afraid that Bucky would grow bored with him and leave him lonely again – but Bucky noticed without Steve having to say anything.

"Time out!" Bucky called loudly from behind a tree before running over to Steve with worry scrawled across his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'," Steve muttered. "I don't usually run a lot."

"Why not?"

"It makes it hard to breathe sometimes," he admits grudgingly.

Then Bucky did something that floored Steve. He flopped onto the ground, looking like he expected Steve to follow suit, and suggested, "Then let's not run anymore."

This was new. Other kids didn't normally act like this when Steve tried to play with them… It made Steve like Bucky even more. "Alright," he said slowly, settling beside Bucky before asking cautiously, "Can I show you somethin'?"

"Sure."

Steve nibbled on his lip and then rolled up his _left_ sleeve – which his mama would definitely tell him not to do "because of _all_ the words" – until the gray words were seen as clearly as the grass under the boys' feet. "You said this to me, and Mama told me it means we're gonna be friends. But I think I have to say the right thing to you too for it to count."

"You already did!" Bucky grinned at him and jerked up the sleeve of his _right_ arm, proudly showing Steve the navy blue words in the crease of his own elbow: "You wanna play with me? You're sure you want me?"

Steve's smile was as bright as the sunshine because he _finally_ had a friend. Then he noticed his mama coming over with another mama – Bucky's, maybe? – nearby, both of them looking worried… probably when they saw that Steve was showing Bucky his words – words that he shared with Bucky! He hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for showing them.

But then he didn't worry so much when, just in the nick of time before their mama's could hear him – Bucky leaned over and promised, "I'll always want to be friends with you, Stevie."

* * *

 _Summer, 1922_

With Bucky around, Steve's childhood had definitely taken a turn for the better. Bucky's steadiness had given Steve the courage to do the things that he wanted to do – or at least attempt them – no matter what they were… to the point that it wasn't long before Bucky started swearing that _he_ was the sane one, which was true.

One thing that Steve wanted to do was go swimming – he liked swimming , especially during the summertime – but that wasn't often possible in the middle of Brooklyn. Plus he would have to show _so many_ of his words if he wore nothing but swimming trunks. But it was hot and he wanted to cool down!

He expressed these things – well, everything but the "words" conundrum – to Bucky as they lazed around Steve's apartment one summer afternoon.

"I wish," Bucky muttered, the corners of his mouth suddenly getting a little turned down as he said, "But you can take your shirt off if you want. It's just the two of us and your mama won't be back from the store for awhile."

Steve shook his head, both of them staring up at the ceiling from where they were laying on the floor underneath the open apartment window. "My parents don't like me to."

"We're _nine_ , punk, and they're never gonna find out – not from me at least – so you can do whatever you want."

That was the question, Steve realized. _Did_ he want to? Did he want Bucky to see that he had so many words? So many of what they had come to understand were soulmates? Steve had never heard of anyone else in the world having seven soulmates, and he didn't want to make things weird with Bucky; that was why he hadn't told him about the surplus of marks yet – that was practically the _only_ thing he hadn't told the other boy about himself. His parents had always taught him to be careful about never showing more than one or two of them, so he didn't – not even to Bucky… but he wanted to.

Steve sat up shakily, stammering, "O-okay."

Bucky looked at Steve quizzically, sensing something was off, and the boys studied one another as Steve painstakingly undid the buttons on his shirt one at a time, waiting for a frown, a twitch, from Bucky – anything to signal that he was getting uncomfortable.


	2. Chapter 2

The maroon words on Steve's right arm were the only ones that Bucky had seen before besides Bucky's own ( _I'm not what you expected, am I, Captain?)_ – they were one of the marks that honestly confused and thrilled Steve the most, because who would call Steve _captain_? _And more than one future soulmate will!_ – and he wasn't sure what to expect.

But it didn't take long for the pale blue words near his collarbone to come into view, and Bucky raised an eyebrow at Steve – encouraging but awkward, because he automatically assumed that– given Steve's maroon words – his friend would be part of a triad, which while rare wasn't unheard of.

Steve nearly stopped then and there. If he did, maybe he could get away with keeping his secret for a little while longer. If he unbuttoned anymore buttons on his shirt though, Bucky was going to start figuring out that there was far more in Steve's future then he'd been led to believe.

Bucky saw his hesitation and his expression changed to something that Steve couldn't quite decipher as he encouraged in a strange tone, "Keep going, Stevie."

So he did. The tan words appeared next, under Steve's belly button, and again Steve almost stopped. If he didn't take his shirt _off_ – didn't reveal his back – that meant even more words stayed hidden. But Bucky had the _strangest_ expression on his face and something was happening inside his friend's head, but he didn't know what. Bucky was just _studying_ him, rising slowly into a sitting position as he squinted at the words that he could see on Steve. So the smaller boy slipped the shirt off of his shoulders, still watching Bucky, practically quivering with terror.

Bucky tilted his head to look at Steve's back, instantly finding the dark green words scrawled between his shoulder blades.

Bucky looked Steve in the eye then, and it was only at that moment that Steve realized that they were _both_ trembling.

 _Oh, no! Please don't leave, Buck!_

Then Bucky asked quietly, so very quietly, "There are more, aren't there?"

Steve gawked, for a split second – how did he _know_? – before he obediently rolled up his pant legs to reveal a bright set of words on the inside of each leg – red on the left and pink on the right.

Steve thought he saw the strangest thing on Bucky's face – the possible beginnings of a smile – as he asked, "Is that all of them?" Steve nodded solemnly – and Bucky _laughed!_ Actually _laughed!_ "Punk, why didn't you _tell_ me?"

"Why would I?" Steve asked, feeling a little worried for his friend.

"Because!" Bucky started fumbling with the buttons on his shirt; he was in such a hurry to get it off. Then he rolled up his pant legs.

And Steve could only stare. Because they were all there. A perfect mirror image of the placement of his words – down to the same colors – on Bucky's body!

Red words on his right leg, pink words on his left, green words near his waist on his back. Pale blue near his belly button and tan near his shoulder blade. And the same as always – the only words he'd known about before two minutes ago – Steve's navy words on the crease of his right elbow, maroon words on his left.

"I thought it was just me," Steve whispered, awestruck.

"I thought so too!"

Steve didn't think his smile could get any wider – and he certainly didn't think this could get any more perfect.

But at the same time he was thrilled to think that one day, when they were surrounded by their other soulmates, it would.

* * *

 _1941_

Over the years, Edwin Jarvis had developed a habit of stepping into stores and looking at ties whenever he thought about it. It was a bit of a desperate move for a man who had seven – mostly well-hidden – soulmarks, but nonetheless he still did it every so often. It was one of the few ways he could think of to… tempt fate a little, perhaps.

And the person behind the light blue writing on his shoulder didn't seem as scary as some of the people behind his other words – like the ridiculously long, cutting slew of pink words that wrapped around his left leg like a second sock or the green words spoken by someone who was apparently an agent with something called the SSR.

No, in the face of words like that, "You've got good tastes. I think this is the most beautiful tie in the store" seemed like an entirely safe place to start.

All the same, he couldn't stay. He had other things to do before he had to report back to the general, and the tie shopping _was_ a rather silly endeavor; he would meet his soulmates when it was time and not a moment before. He fingered the expensive silk tie one more time and moved to turn and leave the shop.

But before he could do any such thing, a feminine, accented voice said from behind him, "You've got good tastes. I think this is the most beautiful tie in the store."

He whipped around to find a doe-eyed brunette saleswoman watching him attentively, and it was only because he'd oftentimes rehearsed the response that he wanted to give that he was able to say without stammering – and meaning every word – "And I think that you are quite possibly the most beautiful woman in the world."

She blinked at him, eyes growing even wider as she murmured, "I'm Anna."

"I'm Edwin Jarvis."

Anna beamed. Edwin smiled right back, bought the tie… and later in the day, he met Anna for dinner. He started smiling the moment he saw her outside the bistro, but the closer she came – wearing a knee-length, short-sleeved, boat neck dress – the wider his smile became. He could see no less than five soulmarks on her body.

Seeing his happy expression as he surveyed her marks – all in handwriting and colors identical to his own – Anna relaxed enough to hug him and he whispered in her ear, "By any chance do you have two more marks?"

The question made her so happy that she kissed him on the cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

Unfortunately, it didn't take much time at all for Edwin and Anna's already difficult long-distance relationship – a necessary evil in and of itself - to become decidedly _unhappy_ when the war broke out.

Six more soulmates out there somewhere or not, Edwin couldn't lose Anna, not when they were all one another had. So he forged the necessary papers to get his Jewish soulmate out of war-torn Hungary… and he paid the price. But he got her to the States with the help of Howard Stark, he got her safe… and then he married her.

They made a nice life together… but it was still just the two of them, and most of the time it felt like so much was missing. It was a good life, living the perfect American dream, but _their_ perfect dreams still included six more people.

* * *

 _1942_

Steve Rogers didn't necessarily have snow white motives for wanting to join the army. All of the things that he'd been saying to anyone who asked him? Those things were entirely true… but there was something else. Without joining _something_ , _somehow_ , he really wasn't sure that he would ever meet… well, any number of his soulmates.

The maroon words on his right arm, I'm not what you expected, am I, Captain?

The green words between his shoulder blades, It's a real honor to meet you, captain.

The red words on his left leg: Recruits! Attention! Gentlemen, I am Agent Carter; I supervise all operations for this division.

So he fought hard to join up and Dr. Erskine finally gave him a chance.

And – as he had suspected – he met Agent Carter before long… and _she_ was not what he had expected. To say nothing of the fact that the situation was anything but ideal. He was standing in an entire line of recruits, at attention and completely unable to reply. The only reason she even noticed him at all was because he was scrawny!

But he did a perfectly fabulous job of being the center of attention the first time he did speak to her – huddled on the ground, his body wrapped around a grenade as he was.

"Get away! Get back!" he cried frantically, trying to wave Agent Carter away when she hurried over to him, realizing what he meant to do.

But the bomb didn't go off, and he carefully relaxed, looking into her eyes as he sat up. The way she was looking at him… and he _knew_. They _both_ knew. He had just found his second soulmate.

She was absolutely _gorgeous_ and in that moment they both fell _hard_ for one another.

Steve decided then and there in that split second moment when it was just the two of them in the world staring at one another that fate must _love_ him.

For a lovely little couple of weeks, they got to know one another and it was the best feeling Steve had ever experienced. They got to know one another and Steve made sure to tell her all about Bucky. The conversation about Bucky became one about marks, and she nearly cried when she realized that they shared all the same soulmates.

But that didn't make their relationship easy – not at all. There was a war going on and Erskine had plans for him and Peggy had orders to carry out and after his training, Erskine was quick to put those plans into action.

Before long, Steve wasn't just Steve Rogers; he was Captain America, whom the whole world loved. But when it came to the woman that he loved, he was left unable to do nothing but write letters and pray for the day that they could be together again… with Bucky and their other five soulmates, and wouldn't that just be perfect?

One day…

* * *

 _November, 1943_

Peggy knew going into the officer's club to talk to Steve that there was no way he would be there without Bucky. She figured it was unavoidable that she was going to meet Bucky – the second of her seven soulmates. So she dressed accordingly, in the low-cut red dress that made soldiers' expressions morph into looks that she wanted to punch right off of their faces.

But she wouldn't tonight. Tonight she _wanted_ the attention – just from two people in particular – and she knew _exactly_ how to get it.

Honestly, out of all her soulmates, Bucky was the one she'd never been able to make any assumptions with. It wasn't as though one could take a horrible lot away from the small, gray word that she'd been born with above her bellybutton. _Ma'am_.

 _Everyone_ knew better then to allow their first words to someone to be that vague! She was a little upset with Bucky Barnes for that, and she always had been. So using what Steve had told her about Bucky, she'd come up with the perfect retribution.

A pretty dress, ignoring Bucky, and – just because she could – being even more ambiguous then she knew he was going to be.

When she walked over to the two boys – Steve really hadn't downplayed how handsome their soulmate was – Steve said carefully, maybe even as a way of alerting Bucky, "Agent Carter."

She could feel Bucky giving her a quick once over, and she purposely caught his eye while he was doing it. He grinned and nodded at her saying predictably, "Ma'am."

"Hi," she sighed quietly, making sure to look perfectly unimpressed as she turned back to Steve.

But she was very impressed by them both; she wanted to get to know Bucky the way she'd gotten to know Steve. She wanted to get to know them both better. She wanted this war to be over so that they could properly become whatever it was that they were meant to be without any miles and bullets and Nazis and letters between them. But that wasn't at all how things turned out, and if only she'd known in advance how very little time she'd get to spend with Bucky before he _fell off a train and died_ , she wouldn't have been nearly so flippant about their first meeting. She would've acted like she treasured that first moment, and the few the three of them had shared together afterwards, as much as she actually did.


	4. Chapter 4

She fell apart when Steve told her Bucky had died, soon becoming wracked with guilt over that one first moment and how she'd made him feel invisible within it. Steve had returned and told her the horrible news on _Thanksgiving Day_ , and now it was New Years' Eve and the grief for a man she barely knew hadn't faded at all.

It was only amplified, screaming in her ears and heart and consuming her as she listened to Steve talk to her over the radio, telling her that there was no safe landing sight, that he was going to have to land in the water. She wanted to scream at the unfairness, at the terribleness, at the world. In that moment, her world shrank down – down to that one room and her tears and Steve's voice… and then static. Nothing but static and agony and loneliness.

She had seven soulmates and yet she was on her own once again. No more kisses in the dark as one of them or the other or both crept into her quarters after hours. No more of her two boys smiling over her head when they thought she wasn't paying attention, amused at whatever she'd done this time. There wasn't going to be anymore of her and Steve or Bucky smiling at one another from across the room, across the table, in a world of their own even in the middle of a crowded room.

Now she truly would be alone in a room.

The very thought had her doubled over in a chair, head in her hands, sobbing for hours that she had long lost count of.

Somewhere in the distance, a crowd exploded cheerfully with glee, so far removed from her own blinding pain as she realized in some far corner of her mind what was happening outside this room. Twelve peals of a bell sounded as yet another sob shook Peggy to the core.

And the New Year began.

* * *

 _November 21, 1945_

It was the day before Thanksgiving, and, as of last night, according to Daniel Sousa's mother, they had a lot to be thankful for. But Daniel was having a hard time remembering that this morning.

He could practically hear his mother say, "Remember how lucky you are to have come home to us safely." But his leg hadn't followed him home – just agonizing ghost pains that reminded him of what he'd lost.

"You're blessed to have found such a good job so quickly after your return." But it wasn't at the telephone company, like his family thought, and everybody here looked down on him, thanks to his injury.

Case in point – the agent who had gotten a job with the SSR at the same time he did. Everybody admired Thompson in one way or another, and in the past two and a half months, he'd rocketed his way to being Chief Dooley's right hand man with Sousa admittedly being third on the totem pole, because he was still good at his job even if he couldn't be overly fast about it anymore. Yet Jack Thompson had thus far made a not so subtle point to ignore Daniel thanks to his crutch – to the point of refusing to even speak to him – thinking him unworthy of the unspoken position that he held. So Daniel made a point not to care, and didn't try talking to Thompson either.

Until today – because today was the day that Dooley must've decided that Daniel belonged in purgatory, because he assigned him and Thompson to be partners, for which Daniel was _not_ thankful.

"Your first crime scene together is in Central Park," the chief declared, slapping a file down on the desk. "Now smile pretty, promise me you two are gonna behave yourselves, and go make me proud. Go on, get out of here."

The chief waved his hand towards his office door, dismissing them with a sharp glare that meant they weren't to protest – anymore than what they already had, that was. So Thompson rolled his eyes and snatched up the file, stalking out of the office with Daniel crutching his way behind him. They grabbed their and hats and suit jackets and moved towards the elevator, Daniel still struggling determinedly to keep up.

Thompson slammed the elevator button and glanced back at Daniel asking sarcastically, "You sure you can keep up, Agent Susan?"

Oh, _no_!

He couldn't be – not Jack Thompson! And yet those exact words were the ones wrapped around Daniel's right ankle. Finding the first of his seven soulmates had just become another thing for him to be _un_ thankful for.

He blinked and Thompson stared, just waiting for a comeback until the elevator doors slid open.

Daniel brushed past Thompson and into the elevator, ordering in a low, flat voice, "Just stay out of my way and let me work, Thompson."

It was the other man's turn to blink, and they both took a deep breath when the elevator doors closed behind them both. Thompson let the air out of his lungs, suggesting while both of them stared at the opposite wall – and _not_ at each other – "Let's be friends."

"Fair enough," Daniel nodded. "It's not like I'd want anything more from you."

Thompson snorted, a smirk twitching at the edges of his mouth as Daniel glanced hesitantly in his direction.

"What?" Thompson asked, catching his gaze.

There was no delicate way to put this, Daniel realized, so he might as well just be blunt. "Am I your only mark? 'Cause I don't think I'm either of the ones on your elbows."

Thompson eyed him, trying to size him up before he sighed and muttered, "You're on my left ankle." The next bit of information flew out of his mouth as Thompson looked away again before Daniel could find a non-incriminating way to ask the question. "I've got seven marks in all."

Daniel smiled at him, unreasonably thrilled to know that he no longer had to be alone in that. "Me too."

Thompson nodded with another half-smirk, asking the wall, "So, ah, we're not gonna mention this to anybody, right?"

"Fair enough," Daniel repeated as the elevator doors slid open.

This time Thompson accommodated his gait to stay at Daniel's side.


	5. Chapter 5

_December 1, 1945_

Peggy took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying not to notice the marks on her right ankle and stomach as she dressed for her first day at a new job. Steve's navy "Get away! Get back!" and Bucky's "Ma'am," mysteriously as solid as they'd been when her boys had been alive, which – according to Howard, who was the only one she'd trusted enough to ask – had never happened before. In every other case they'd both seen, the words became a colorless outline once the person who said them died.

The only theory that Peggy had been able to come up with – and she knew full well that it was stupid – was that she kept them too alive in her heart and memories even after nearly two years without them for the marks to fade. Not that she was ever going to share that thought with anyone else.

But today, she told herself firmly, today was the day that she started over. It was a new month, she was starting a new job, and to be entirely honest, there was a good chance that she could potentially meet a couple more of her soulmates today.

If the green "What are we taking everybody now?" and tan "Feel free to ignore him; grumpy is his default mood" were perhaps already together like she wondered if they might be. Sure, they didn't sound like the nicest people – certainly nothing like Steve and Bucky – but she'd take it over the aloneness, wouldn't she?

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me!" Thompson muttered, stopping beside Daniel's desk to poke his partner in the shoulder and demand, "Look at that and tell me it isn't what it looks like."

Daniel looked first at Thompson and then followed the other man's line of sight to Chief Dooley's office only to see the chief talking to a woman wearing a bright red hat and blue suit. "You think she's the new agent that supposed to report today?"

"Do you see any other new faces around here?"

The woman turned slightly and Daniel's eyebrows drew together as he asked, "Speaking of faces, why do I know hers?"

Thompson's mouth dropped open for a millisecond before he caught himself and said, "I think that's Peggy Carter."

"She's one of ours, right – SSR?"

"She's Captain America's famous fling, idiot!"

"And an SSR agent," Daniel repeated, eyeing him and using a tone that told the blond man to play nice with her if this was in fact "what it looked like."

"How do you think she got there?" Thompson leered.

Daniel opened his mouth to issue a harsher warning, but before he could do so, the chief opened the door to his office and pointed directly at Thompson and ordered, "C'mere."

"Chief's lost his mind," Thompson muttered under his breath, slapping Daniel on the shoulder before he went into the office.

Watching him go, Daniel flinched for the woman who waited for him and kept right on watching the scene unfold.

* * *

"Thompson, this is Agent Carter," Chief Dooley said, sliding behind his desk as soon as the big blond man that he'd called to shut the door. "Agent Carter, this is my right hand man, Jack Thompson."

Peggy reached out her hand to shake, but Thompson glanced at her, shoving his own hands into his pockets as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What, are we taking everybody now?"

Peggy blinked but determinedly _did not_ let it show when her heart sank into her toes. This cruel man was supposed to be her soulmate? _And what sort of twisted joke was it that his looks reminded her of Steve?_ "Only everybody who can do the job, I'm sure," she answered resolutely, her hand dropping back down to her side.

She watched with a flare of satisfaction as an expression flashed across his face as though he'd just been slapped. He glanced guiltily towards her hand, now wishing he'd taken it. _Oh well, his loss,_ she thought stubbornly.

* * *

Daniel watched, growing more curious by the second as he watched the scene fold inside of the chief's office. Thompson got this quickly-hidden stricken look on his face and then with a word from Chief Dooley he was marching stiffly out of the office with Miss Carter behind him. As they walked, Thompson nodded towards men, spitting out their names as they headed towards an empty desk in the back of the room – until they stopped at Daniel's desk.

Thompson shot him a look he wasn't sure how to interpret – soulmates or no, they weren't good at nonverbal communication – and glanced sidelong between him and the woman at his side as he said curtly by way of introduction, "This is Sousa."

"Feel free to ignore him; grumpy is his default mood," Daniel casually told Miss Carter – _Agent_ Carter, apparently.

Daniel stuck his hand out for her to shake and Thompson winced and walked away, trying to look unbothered. Daniel didn't understand why he was so ruffled – until Agent Carter gave him a genuine smile and said drolly, "Rest assured, I am an expert at ignoring people like him."

Well, that was going to make life interesting around this joint!

* * *

Peggy tried to keep from watching Daniel and Jack as the day progressed, but it was honestly hard. She wanted the respect of these two men in particular; she wanted to get to know them. Part of her _wanted_ to fall in love all over again. But she was wary. The two men didn't realize that they were something of an established duo already; it wasn't obvious if you weren't looking for it – but Peggy _was_ looking for it.

She thought she could trust Daniel – maybe – but Thompson was another matter for the time being. Maybe in time, once she proved herself to them as an agent, she could trust herself to him – to both of them – as a woman, but now wasn't the time. Rather unfortunately, the job had to come first.


	6. Chapter 6

As it was, Peggy got the distinct feeling that Jack and Daniel were going to treat her as much like a soulmate as they did one another, and though she had halfway expected something like that, a part of her was still hurt. It occurred to Peggy a few days later that it was like a cruel joke – fate making her trade Steve and Bucky's near perfection for Daniel's mousiness and Jack's meanness when the two boys wouldn't even acknowledge their bond, platonic though it may have been – let alone the one they had with her.

She had been wrong; some things were worse than being alone… things like not being wanted in the first place.

* * *

Daniel didn't like it. He'd spent the first weekend in December mulling over what he wanted to do about Agent Carter, how he wanted to proceed, and in the end he ended up feeling like he needed to discuss things with Thompson before they went into work Monday morning. So he purposely caught up with the other man a block away from the telephone company.

"Hey," Thompson said, glancing back at Daniel and slowing his gait as he heard the crutch on the sidewalk even before Daniel spoke.

Daniel nodded half-impatiently before he asked bluntly, "What are we going to do about Carter?"

"You've got words from her too then?"

"Of course; we've already figured out that all our soulmarks have the same writing. What are we going to do about Carter?"

"Me?" Thompson nearly kicked his foot against the concrete as he walked slowly along, declaring, "Nothing. I was a jerk and she hates me."

"Nah."

Thompson gave him a disbelieving glance and asked, "What about you?"

"I think she's still grieving over Captain America."

"Yep."

"So I – _we_ – should give her time to get over him."

"Maybe; it's been two years, right?"

"Yeah… but we'll give her more time." Daniel refused to acknowledge that Thompson was trying to dissociate himself from one of their soulmates, and before either one of them could comment on it, Daniel asked a different question that had been eating at him. "Was Captain America her soulmate?"

"Nobody's really sure, from what I've heard."

"What do you think?"

Thompson looked around, trying to downplay the conversation and their implications before he replied, "Probably. I honestly can't figure any reason why she'd be treating us like she is unless he was."

"I heard Captain America and his friend Barnes were soulmates too."

"Uh-huh."

Daniel paused before asking carefully, "Did any of your words fade around that time?"

"Nope."

"What do you think that means?"

"Look, Sousa, I don't know," Thompson snapped, his at ease façade snapping with his tone. "I don't know what to do about any of it, and until I do, I'm just gonna leave it all alone."

Leave it all alone. Probably a wise course of action, Daniel would grant, and he would try to follow suit – but he didn't like it.

* * *

 _December 31, 1945_

Peggy _hated_ New Year's Eve with a burning passion – or at least she had since the last day of 1943. Now it was that god-awful anniversary of Steve's death – the last day of 1945 – and she really hadn't felt this low in a long time. She'd woken up that morning feeling like the nerve endings of her emotions had been scraped raw, and then she'd had to go to work and endure being around Thompson and Sousa – but not around them, because they barely acknowledged her – while memories of Steve and Bucky swirled in her head. What she'd had, what she didn't have, what she was being denied, what she wanted. All day long these things – these four men – had consumed her thoughts and she hated it – and she hated the fact that her soulbond still drew her to her two living soulmates.

She'd fled work at the earliest opportunity, for once not caring about what would be said about her and just _went_. She was trying to outrun her misery and she knew it, but it wasn't working. It was cold, it was raining, her umbrella had flipped itself inside out on her way to work this morning – because that was the kind of day today was, so why not? – and if she got any more miserable, she was going to start considering doing something drastic with the gun in her purse.

Feeling drained on too many levels to count, Peggy eventually gave into the sane side of her brain that was screaming at her to get out of the elements and ducked into an automat, shaking rain off of her coat and useless umbrella. She dropped into a booth, clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering as a waitress came up to the table.

"Hot," Peggy managed while she shivered. "Tea."

The cup placed in front of her didn't contain real English tea, but she'd come to expect that in America, and it was steaming hot, which was all that she cared about at the moment. She drank it quickly, feeling the liquid heat spread throughout her body as her shivering slowly subsided. She should go home now and change into dry clothes, but the idea of stepping outdoors again was just too unappealing as of yet, so she caught the eye of a passing waitress instead, deciding to prolong the inevitable for a little while longer.

* * *

"Can I have some more tea?"

When she heard the words that were scrawled across her right ankle, Angie bit back a sigh, silently berating herself for becoming a waitress in a place where she was asked that exact question at least three times a week and turned to look at the customer who'd spoken. The question had come at Angie from a despondent-looking British woman and she wasn't even sitting in Angie's section, but she looked so sad that Angie nodded and went ahead and got the order before going so far as to plop down across from the woman and ask, the smallest sliver of hope running through her that maybe _this_ beautiful tea-drinker would be her first soulmate, "Bad day, English?"

To Angie's growing horror, the woman paled, blinked a couple of times, and began to sob.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh geez, what'd I say?!" Angie asked in alarm, jumping up and moving to sit beside the woman whose name she didn't even know, pulling her into a tight hug. "Was it me? Just a bad day?"

"I-" the woman croaked, letting Angie hold her.

"Soulmate?" Angie guessed.

"In more ways than one," the woman managed, pulling herself together quickly with an embarrassed flush on her face.

"Am I your soulmate?" Angie whispered against the woman's ear, not particularly caring about the attention the woman's outburst had drawn.

"I think so."

"Then how is it a bad day?" Angie asked hesitantly, excitement warring with uncertainty in the pit of her stomach.

"It's not you," the woman assured her. "It's just… the anniversary of the death of one of my other soulmates."

The wording of that gave Angie pause – did this woman have as many soulmates as Angie did?! – but she moved quickly past it, squeezing the woman's shoulder comfortingly as she said. "I get off in twenty minutes. You wanna go somewhere and talk or something? I don't like you being alone today."

"I'll be alright," the woman said, granting her a sad but pretty smile as she nudged Angie gently, trying to leave the booth.

"But-!"

"I promise you, Angie, I will be fine," the woman said firmly. "We need to talk, yes, but I really can't today. Please. Will you be here tomorrow? Are you getting off at the same time?"

Angie nodded, realizing the woman had read her nametag as she stood unwillingly from the booth, a frown firmly in place.

Her tone softened as she replied, "Then I will be back here then and we can sit in this booth and talk to our hearts' content. Tomorrow." She squeezed Angie's hand, asking, "Alright?"

"Alright."

"Thank you." The woman reached out and hugged Angie, murmuring in her ear, "I'm glad I met you today. Now I have a good anniversary on this date."

Angie returned the hug tightly, saying, "Take care, English." They pulled apart, the woman gave her one more tumultuous smile, and she was halfway to the door before Angie realized, "Hey, wait! I don't know your name!"

The woman looked over her shoulder; hand on the door as she replied with that same soft smile that kept getting more and more convincing, "Peggy Carter."

"Angie Martinelli."

"Nice to meet you, Angie."

"Nice to meet you too, Peg."

Angie was halfway back to her apartment at the Griffith before she realized why she recognized her soulmate's name. The soulmate that Peggy had lost on this date was _Captain America_! Did that mean that he was one of _her_ soulmates too? Of course not, none of her marks had become an outline.

No matter what, meeting Peggy felt like the beginnings of a story, a story worth telling.

* * *

Peggy fell onto her bed, alone in her apartment at last as she peeled off her heels and hose, making herself breathe and think through what had just happened at the automat.

Angie.

The bright pink words around her left elbow had come from a woman – the first female among her soulmates that Peggy had met – named Angie.

Angie Martinelli.

A waitress who was younger then Peggy… prettier… optimistic… bright-eyed – and far too innocent to know the truth about Peggy's work at the telephone company, let alone any of the soulmates that they might share with one another. In truth, _that_ fact was a great part of the reason Peggy had left her so quickly. Peggy already adored the light in the eyes of the twenty-something girl, and she didn't want anything to do with the idea of that light dimming because she'd lost some of her innocence on Peggy's account.

Much as she didn't like the idea, Peggy knew that for now she was going to have to keep up her phone company charade with her soulmate, and that was something that she hadn't known if she could handle spur of the moment like that. Some part of Peggy was however thrilled at the idea of seeing her again tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, when she felt ready to face the world again.

It wasn't horribly late, but the very thought of sleep suddenly made Peggy drowsy. She shuffled around enough to change into pajamas and then dropped onto her bed, falling into a fitful sleep nearly before her head hit the pillow while dreams of her four – now five – soulmates danced behind her eyes.

She awoke with a jolt hours later, the entire street below her flooded with noise. The ball had just dropped in the square; she realized blearily coming to as she tried to push her way out of her dreams. But she purposely kept Angie's bright eyes and smile clear in her mind's eye, and the image actually brought a small smile onto her face.

And the New Year began.

* * *

Angie accepted every explanation and story that Peggy gave her without question – so much so that Peggy couldn't decide if she should feel grateful, guilty, or – considering her past track record with her soulmates – suspicious. But she really couldn't bring herself to care. In the busy, cold city of New York, Angie offered her genuine friendship and the pure optimism and innocence that Peggy hadn't realized she needed until she had it.

Neither one of them were inclined to get romantically involved with another woman, but Angie could be so affectionate at times –she was fine with everything less than outright kissing her on the mouth... and that was something else that Peggy hadn't realized she'd been missing. She'd withdrawn from the world so much that she'd had to readjust to a loving touch again, and she loved having it. The L&L Automat became Peggy's hideaway from the world and Angie unwittingly became her sunshine in the darkness.

Except for the fact that Peggy's life was about to get even more complicated on a whole different level, starting with another one of Peggy's blander soulmarks: Miss Carter?


	8. Chapter 8

Peggy was really working very hard to fight off the visual image of ripping the heads off of Thompson and Sousa even as she sat in the middle of the automat. As always, though, a few words from Angie coaxed a smile from her and when her soulmate went back to work, Peggy got up from her seat to buy a piece of pie.

When she returned to her seat, there was a note on the napkin at her table, reading, "Meet me in the alley in 5 minutes." And she _knew_ that handwriting, seeing as it was the same style as the maroon _Miss Carter_? that was on her right ankle.

 _No_ , Peggy told herself firmly. _That's absolutely not what's going on here._ She was just thinking about Thompson and Sousa too much, that was all. She was too fixated on her soulmates at the moment and was imagining things because of it.

There really was only one way to find out.

She wolfed down her pie, slapped money down on the table for Angie to find, and then headed out the back entrance the prescribed five minutes later.

"Miss Carter?" came instantly from the darkest shadows of the alley the moment she stepped outside.

"Do I know you?" she asked, thinking that just maybe she knew the man behind the distinctly British accent.

That would make whatever was about to happen simpler, wouldn't it? But, no, she realized as he stepped into the weak light of a street lamp, she'd never seen him before in her life. So here she went again… number six.

"Oh," he drawled. "We haven't had the pleasure, but we may yet; you're coming with me."

Headlights flared to life in a car behind him, and Peggy's instincts kicked into gear. She slugged her soulmate in the face so hard he fell and then she made to run for it as the car sped after her, only to realize that her way out was a one way door and she was stuck where she was with a car coming at her. So she did the only sensible thing she could think of and shot the tire.

The car swerved and skidded to a stop in front of her, and the next thing she knew, she was staring into the face of Howard Stark as he deadpanned, "I know; I should've called first."

 _How_ , Peggy thought in exasperation _do I end up finding myself in these situations?!_

But the idea of actually having something important to do, something with which to prove herself was too tempting to pass up when Howard offered it to her, no matter what it meant in the long run. Especially if it meant that she got to get to know the man Howard said was named Edwin Jarvis – his butler, her… well, _married_ soulmate. But of course, nothing in her life could be perfect.

* * *

But if there was one thing that she and Mr. Jarvis agreed on instantly. They didn't discuss the fact that they were soulmates; it was understood without being discussed that he had Anna and therefore wanted nothing but friendship from Peggy. What Peggy wanted from him? Well, she wasn't sure at first glance, but since he seemed to be sincere, she let it go his way.

But then Coleen died and Peggy fell apart – too many losses, too many, too much, too fast – and she already knew that she couldn't call Angie, couldn't tell her any of this. So she called Mr. Jarvis – and where did her scattered brain pick for a meeting place? The automat.

Stupid girl! She wondered if Mr. Jarvis would be capable of lying to save his own life, let alone keep the necessary secrets if he realized that Angie was one of his soulmates. Peggy already knew that they were because Angie had stopped by her apartment for a visit one evening and they'd ended up half-naked together, showing one another all their soulmarks. And just like with Bucky and Steve, all of them were identical and all seven of them were still there.

More secrets to be kept from yet another soulmate, but she had to say something to him to keep Angie safe and him uncompromised, didn't she? She didn't see how there was any other way.

So the moment she slid into the booth with their backs to one another, she asked quietly, "Who did you order that coffee from?"

"I believe her nametag said 'Mary,'" he answered in confusion. "Is that important?"

"What is important is that you don't speak to a different waitress, Angie."

His voice was slow, and she could tell she'd piqued his curiosity as he asked simply, "Why?"

"Save yourself from having to lie to her if you can help it; trust me, it's not enjoyable."

"She's one of our soulmates?" he asked a little bit stiffly.

There was no need for her to lie to him about this, was there? He would understand why she was asking him to do this, wouldn't he? "Yes."

She couldn't see his reaction and got the feeling that she should be glad for that as he muttered, obviously upset, "Pink words?"

"Yes…?"

She wanted to ask how he'd known that, but he was too quick to change the subject, saying stiffly, "Very well. Now, why exactly did you call me down here?"

So Peggy allowed the change of topic and poured out the story that she wanted to tell him. Angie never came up in conversation again, but Peggy was quick to get close to Mr. Jarvis – despite her head telling her to keep distance between them – and him to her. They never really discussed Angie, or Anna, or any of their soulmates, until that one quiet moment in the house of Howard's that she was staying at when he was stitching up her bloodied knee and somehow the topic turned to Steve.

She didn't have the heart to tell him that Steve was one of their soulmates; it seemed too cruel with what Angie had inadvertently told her the evening before when she'd stopped at the automat for an after-work coffee and chat with her female soulmate.

 _"_ _You know that man you talked to in here once? The stuff-shirt suit? He's been back in here almost every other day since that first time."_


	9. Chapter 9

Peggy had left the automat with the thought running through her head, not at all for the first time that it was cruel of her to ask Mr. Jarvis to refrain from speaking to Angie. Her only consolation was that she knew the butler's protective instincts to be as heightened as her own. He knowingly withheld Anna from the entire situation – and her other soulmates – in the same way that they were protecting Angie – through ensuring her ignorance – and for now that was just how it had to be.

What she hadn't counted on, however, was having to protect Mr. Jarvis from Thompson and Sousa.

* * *

Peggy didn't let her momentary panic show on her face when she heard her two soulmates outside Howard's home; this was either going to go well or go to h***. Either way, the two agents couldn't know she was here. So she ducked behind a potted plant and listened in as Mr. Jarvis opened the door.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. How may I help you?" he asked cordially, finding two soulmates with the same phrase.

* * *

Jack nearly flinched when those words flew from the butler's mouth. No. No way. He couldn't have another relationship go down the toilet like the other two had so far… but he had to do his job.

He held up his photo I.D. saying politely, "Good afternoon. Agents Thompson and Sousa with the SSR."

The man didn't even blink, so maybe Jack was wrong and this man wasn't his soulmate… or Carter's for that matter? The maroon words on the inside of her right elbow were in plain sight whenever she wore something with short sleeves, and it hadn't taken him long to notice that the words had come from the same person.

But still, the greeting was common enough, right? Maybe he was letting his mind get away from him for no good reason? He sincerely hoped so.

"If you're looking for Mr. Stark, I'm afraid he's indefinitely unavailable," Mr. Jarvis said evenly.

"We're well aware of that, Mr. Jarvis," Sousa spoke up before asking, "That is your name, isn't it? Mr. Edwin Jarvis? _"_

Again, Mr. Jarvis didn't even blink. A part of Jack wanted to ask him outright if they were soulmates, but so far he hadn't acted like it, so he couldn't bring himself to do it. The job _had_ to come first. Even if that meant arresting a man who just might turn out to be his soulmate. Even if that meant threatening said man – and his wife, as it turned out – with deportation, which only added to Jack's theory that he was speaking to his soulmate, given the pale blue words that zigzagged between his shoulder blades: Next time you consider threatening someone with deportation – don't!

Sitting there in that interrogation room, doing his job and making the eyes of the man who he was – thanks to those pale blue words – now sure was one of his soulmates fill with unconstrained hatred, he was nearly making himself sick with what he was capable of. Threatening a man was one thing, but threatening a woman, and to separate their marriage for that matter – he would be sent back to England and her to Hungary – that wasn't something he was proud of. He needed a drink – badly.

And that was before Carter did the noble thing and put herself on the line to get Mr. Jarvis out of the hot seat. Regardless of how that had flown directly over the chief's head, Jack noticed it in the way that Mr. Jarvis and Carter kept catching each other's eye in those split second glances that meant _something_ – they meant that the two already knew each other, regardless of what Sousa said Carter had told the chief.

But after being such a monster towards Jarvis and Anna, he wasn't about to hurt another one of his soulmates today by selling her out to the chief. Keeping the secret meant that he had to play into the lie, though, had to be cruel to Carter when the chief reamed her out over her "mistake." Had to watch her gorgeous dark eyes shimmer with tears and do absolutely nothing about it.

He knew that she thought that he disliked her, but that wasn't true, not anymore. Nowadays he was more prone to hating himself than anyone else, he just didn't know how to fix it.

* * *

The minute he was alone outside the police station, Edwin began to tremble. Too close. That had been _far_ too close. He had to protect Anna and Mr. Stark and Miss Carter, too, if only she would let him! However, instances like what had just happened inside the station with the stolen car report proved that there was no way that she was going to let him do that. And it also proved just how much she must feel _something_ , platonic or not, for him, considering how badly she wanted to be respected among her coworkers, yet was willing to sacrifice herself like that. It was humbling to say the least.

He couldn't just continue to stand there on the sidewalk, he reminded himself, hailing a cab, knowing full well that Anna would see straight through him if he returned to her before he was calmed down. Maybe the ambiance of the L&L Automat – and getting a glimpse of Angie who continued to live a normal life, blissfully oblivious to her soulmates' struggles – would soothe him.

He gave the cabbie the address and sat back against the seat taking a deep breath and forcing himself to think on something beside what repercussions Miss Carter would be suffering this very moment. Unfortunately, his thoughts slid to Angie, as they had been getting prone to doing in his sporadic downtime of late.

The first set of words to appear on his body – Agent Sousa's, he knew now – had shown up when he was four. When he was six, he'd gotten two more sets of words – Thompson's green ones and unidentified navy ones. When yet another two soulmarks had appeared when he was seven, his parents had begun to panic, although – like any seven-year-old – he had been far from understanding the words' significance. At eight, he'd gotten a sixth set of words – his beloved Anna's. When he'd hit double digits without another set of words appearing, his poor parents had begun to relax.

They shouldn't have.


	10. Chapter 10

Angie wasn't blind. As a matter of fact, she saw a heck of a lot more than people gave her credit for. She saw Peggy every time she came in, and was very open about that fact – so she wasn't sure what made the man who sometimes talked with Peg think that she didn't see him too. He even came in without Peg fairly often once he'd been introduced to the place, and she saw when his gaze would follow her around the automat from behind his newspaper and over his coffee cup.

She knew that she and Peg all had the same soulmates, so it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. She'd seen the wedding ring on the man's hand that meant he had to be careful about how he socialized with his single soulmates, but she thought he was taking it a bit to the extreme where she was concerned. And if that was how he was going to treat her, then how exactly did he treat Peg, for that matter, and was he somehow involved with Angie's niggling suspicion that Peg didn't work for something as simple as a phone company?

The past five times he had come in here, she had made a point to be the one to wait on him even though he purposely sat in Mary's section when he came by himself. He always came close to physically shrinking back from her and would cut her off before she could speak, _pointing_ to the darn coffee pot wherever it happened to be so that he could get his point across without having to open his mouth. And it was seriously starting to get under her skin.

But, you know what; if she was that repulsive to him, then what the heck did she have to lose?

When he came in and sat down at his usual table, her mouth thinned into a resolute line and she poured him a cup of coffee without even officially taking the order. Walking over to the table, she slammed the cup down in front of him and dropped down into the chair across from him, thoroughly startling him and not caring a bit.

She'd had enough and it was time to set him straight.

* * *

Edwin hadn't had the heart to tell his parents when he'd been woken in the middle of the night at eleven years old, agonizing pain engulfing the entirety of his left foot and leaving behind horrible, deceivingly bright pink words that he'd gotten up in the middle of the night and lit a candle in order to read. The words had awful implications and made it plain that he'd hurt or at the very least angered his youngest soulmate. Even at eleven years old, he'd determined that he wasn't going to hurt her, whoever she was, regardless of what fate dictated. Then Peggy Carter had come along and given him a very logical reason to keep his mouth shut. He'd been presented with a choice, and he'd chosen the one that he thought would hurt Angie less. He didn't speak to her, but he came around the automat often, enjoying seeing her for as long as it took to finish a cup of coffee. He knew she thought he was at the very least strange for it – he had a feeling she was a very observant girl when she wanted to be, and not half as clueless as she liked to let on – and as of late he'd started to realize that despite his best intentions, she was getting angry with him.

Despite his best intentions, fate was having its way, and when she dropped down into the chair across from him, eyes flashing with equal parts hurt and fury, he knew exactly what she was about to say – and it killed him.

"Listen, mister, I don't know what's going on here and I don't know why you won't ever speak to me, but I do know that we're both smart enough to figure out what we are and you aren't mute, so here's the deal. Since you obviously don't want me, I'll stay away so long as you make sure that nothing hurts our girl. Nod if we've got a deal."

Edwin flinched, allowing regret to flood his features. All those years ago when he'd been eleven, he'd decided he would take his soulmate's hand in his and declare to them that he would never not want them. But Thompson's interrogation and threat to Anna had been a rude awakening. The last thing he'd wanted was to draw Anna into this mess, but Thompson was right about that; she was involved regardless of what he wanted, of whether or not she even knew about it. He couldn't chance doing that to Angie too.

So, as much as he wished this could be different, he just nodded. Angie rolled her eyes and snorted, blue orbs still snapping as she slid out of the booth and went about her work, obviously upset. She never again even bothered to look his way.

So Edwin forced his own gaze away from her, looking down at his free hand where it had become fisted in his lap as she spoke. As he slowly uncurled his fingers he realized that the pressure of his nails biting into his palm had left their mark.

Bruises were already beginning to form.

* * *

Once Jarvis was gone and Thompson was out of the chief's office, Daniel slumped down at his desk and Thompson sat down on the edge of it as Daniel asked in exasperation, "How does this keep happening to us?"

"What?" Thompson asked.

"We keep screwing up our soulbonds!" Daniel hissed under his breath. "Jarvis is probably never going to speak to either of us ever again!"

Thompson snorted, declaring dryly, "At least you may have a chance with Carter. If I ever did, I don't now after what I said to Jarvis about deporting him and Anna. So knock yourself out pal; my shift's over, I'm gonna go drown my sorrows at the first bar I find."

"I'm pulling a freaking double shift today; you mind if I join you in falling into a drunken stupor tomorrow night?"


	11. Chapter 11

"It's a date," Thompson said flatly, grabbing his coat and hat and leaving Daniel alone with his thoughts, which were depressing enough in their own right even _before_ he was stuck pulling graveyard shift with Krzeminski who was all too happy to advise him to give up on being with Carter.

The so-called advice hurt, ringing true even if Krzeminski had no idea about Carter being one of Daniel's soulmates. Carter and Thompson were barely his friends and Jarvis was even less than that! But it also gave rise to another sudden thought – one so obvious he wondered why it hadn't occurred to him before.

What if Carter knew more of their soulmates… and what if one of them would give Daniel what he so desired – what if one of them would love him even with his crutch?

* * *

 _Fifty cents in tips,_ Angie reminded herself, rapping impatiently on Peg's door. This conversation was going to start out with something simple like tips and then she was going to see if she couldn't angle it in the direction of the man who she'd snapped at today. They were soulmates, she knew it by the look he'd had on his face, yet he refused to talk to her, almost refused to _look_ at her when they were face to face, and she didn't even know his name.

And she wanted answers as to why that was.

But then even English decided that she didn't want to talk to her that evening, so Angie disappeared into her own room as quickly as she could, locking the door and sliding to the floor, letting the tears begin to flow as she started wondering if she'd done something wrong.

Something was wrong here. There was something that she wasn't being told. The man in a suit was hiding things in spades – including, Angie was practically certain, one of her soulmates. But what about Peggy? Did she really want to believe that Peg was hiding something from her? Did she perhaps know _more_ of their soulmates that she wasn't letting Angie in on? Did the suit?

Was there a chance that the people she was supposed to be closest to were hiding someone from her who _would_ be willing to love her and let her in as fully as she wanted so badly?

* * *

Coming into work the next morning was an unexpected dose of grief for Peggy. Grief because of Krzeminski's unexpected death and because – of all things – Daniel backed her into both physical and metaphorical corner when he caught up with her as she was leaving the building for the day, asking in a solemn tone, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," she replied, slowing her gait to accommodate him as they went along the sidewalk.

The question struck her like a slap in the face, to say nothing of his awful puppy dog eyes as he queried, "I know we don't talk about it, but I need to know – do you know any of our soulmates besides Thompson and Jarvis?"

Yes, she did. She knew who every one of her soulmates was. She'd known Steve and Bucky, she knew _of_ Anna, and she was on her way to see Angie right now.

Daniel continued, saying earnestly, "This thing with Krzeminski has gotten to me, and I just… I don't want to spend more time alone than I have to, you know?"

Yes, Peggy did know. She knew all too well.

She had to swallow and look away – remind herself of whom she was trying to protect – before she sighed and lied, "No. No, Daniel, I don't know any of the others."

And she hurried away before he could notice the moisture gathering in her eyes. If she was doing the right thing by as many of her soulmates as she could, given the situation, then why did it have to feel so wrong?

* * *

It felt wrong, Peggy realized, because it was wrong! But sitting on a plane with Jack Thompson on their way back to New York from Russia was also the wrong place to be having the epiphany.

The man across from her seemed dangerously close to actually doing something drastic like getting teary-eyed over the confession that he'd just made, and she looked out the window, loosing herself in her own thoughts a bit as she tried to give him some emotional space so that he could gather himself back into his usual façade. But he seemed to be disinclined to do that and Peggy found herself once again thinking about the soulmate group that she was a part of.

In their own ways, every one of them was broken – Daniel needed someone to love him unconditionally, war wound and all, Jack needed someone he was willing to let his guard down around, even Angie was lonely and unhappily stuck in a rut at the automat – and this assignment had just highlighted for her how much… how much people needed other people to lean on. Jarvis was right; no one could bear the weight of the world on their own. People who had been through as much as she and most of her soulmates had sometimes couldn't even bear the weight of their own pasts… and it made her wonder just how much they would benefit if they became a group like they were meant to be. In a way, she was being selfish trying to keep them all in their own separate corners.

This mess with Howard was giving their bonds a horrible start and strain, but what if…? What if they could all be together after Howard was proven innocent?

What if Peggy could do something to point things in the right direction right now where she sat?

Swallowing nervously, Peggy looked behind her at the others on the plane – all of them were asleep. Perfect.

"Jack?" she said gently. "I want to say I'm sorry."

For just how many things, she wasn't quite sure, but she had to start somewhere.


	12. Chapter 12

The statement visibly caught him off guard, and just like she had, he glanced behind her to make sure that the other passengers were asleep before he muttered, "Yeah, me too. Believe it or not, I don't always like being such a jerk."

"It is easier most of the time," she granted.

He chuckled mirthlessly. "It is that."

She leaned her head against the cool metal of the plane, asking, "What are we going to do with all of us, Jack?"

He shook his head hopelessly. "You tell me. I don't see a way to fix any of it on my end."

She didn't immediately realize that she had shifted onto her knees until she had already taken his hand in her own, staring into his eyes as she promised, "We will find a way, Jack. It may take time – quite honestly a lot of it – but there's a reason that we all have one another's words. We'll fix this, and each other, and we will be happy."

A still-sad smile turned up the corners of his mouth and she squeezed his hand, not knowing what else to do. This thing between them wasn't easy, but she knew that she felt something – and maybe he even was starting to feel something for her – and she had to believe that instinctual pull towards him – towards all of her soulmates – was worth fighting for.

Heart hammering, she did the one thing she could think of to seal her pledge to him, leaning in and giving him a careful kiss. He responded just as uncertainly, but there was still that _connection_ there that made it feel _right._ But they were on the plane with far too many other people, so it wasn't like they could do anything more – even if they did know for sure that they wanted to. She broke the kiss, but so long as they were the only two awake, he didn't want to let her go and pulled her all but into his lap instead.

He needed the human contact to ground him, she realized, and laid her head on his shoulder, whispering, "I will fight for us – all of us – I promise."

And unlike with Steve and Bucky, she would win this time – for the five soulmates that she had left, regardless of what it cost her. Some way, somehow, she would see to it that her soulmates started meeting one another!

* * *

But they weren't supposed to start meeting like _this_! Then again, necessity was the mother of happenings... No, that wasn't how the saying went, but it proved true in Peggy's case because, honestly, considering her situation, Angie was her best bet – quite frankly, her only choice if she wanted to get out of this in one piece, or at all. Angie's apartment window was even open; it wasn't like Peggy was going to get a clearer invitation than that! Until, of course, Angie stuck her head out the window.

The blue-eyed girl gasped, asking with concern, "Peggy, what on earth are you doing?"

Peggy looked at her apologetically, but before she could answer, Thompson called out from the other side of Angie's apartment door. "Martinelli! Federal agents! We have some questions for you!"

Angie looked towards the door and then slowly back towards Peggy, a million questions swimming in her eyes as Peggy said softly, "They're here for me."

Angie's mouth pressed into a thin, disgruntled line that meant that Peggy would soon have a lot of explaining to do, but when Thompson continued calling out, "Miss Martinelli, open up!" she shut the window and went to answer the door, going to meet two more of her soulmates.

* * *

Daniel's gaze slipped right over the pretty brunette that was Angie Martinelli as she opened the door – then she said, "Huh, you don't look like federal agents."

Now why the heck wasn't he surprised! Yet another soulmate bond that was probably going to go up in flames thanks to Peggy Carter!

"We're with the Strategic Scientific Reserve," he replied in a clipped tone, not even feeling like _trying_ at the moment – which probably meant that he was going to regret it later.

At least the pesky landlady took it upon herself to inform Angie of the situation before Daniel could properly notice – and be distracted by – how pretty his youngest soulmate was.

Thompson leaned against the wall and said while Daniel looked over the small apartment, "Mother hen here says you're friends with Peggy Carter."

Daniel bit back against telling Thompson that he thought the two women were in fact soulmates; he would find out for himself soon enough… apparently in the form of Angie's unfazed reply of "Yeah, we're friendly."

"She ever tell you about her work?" Daniel asked.

By now both he and Thompson knew the drill of putting aside the soulmate connection for later – only if it somehow remained possible after what had so far been some pretty horrible first encounters – that they could seamlessly pretend to be unruffled in a room full of their coworkers. But Daniel was suspicious about the fact that Angie seemed to be playing that game so well too. It either meant that they weren't soulmates… or that she was hiding something.

And if she had developed a loyalty to Carter, he was betting on the latter, which made him sharper in his tone towards Angie even as he allowed himself to physically step closer to her – as close as he dared to, in fact, with "mother hen" hovering behind her still.

Then his soulmate started to cry – ostensibly over Carter's "sick grandmother."

"Oh, gee, um…" Daniel looked helplessly over his shoulder at Thompson, who suddenly looked just as spooked and out of his element as Daniel felt.

Thompson stammered, "Please, don't. Do that."

Daniel tried his hardest not to do something horribly unforgivable – like laugh – when she began to ramble about hers and Carter's respective grandmothers. However, when Thompson carefully approached only for Angie to fling herself into the blond man's arms, Daniel felt his mood shift to something that couldn't _possibly_ jealousy – even if Angie just might be exactly what he'd been hoping for when he talked to Carter about their soulmates the day after Krzeminski's death.


	13. Chapter 13

His tone sharpened of its own volition as he asked the landlady, "Can you do something about this?"

Hearing the word "Gam-Gam" come from Thompson's mouth twenty seconds later was the end of the straw for Daniel, though, and with a final pat on Angie's head from Thompson, they all left the emotional wreck of a girl alone in her room. As soon as they did so, Daniel realized exactly how he'd come across in that room, and he started mentally kicking himself because he hadn't been that horrible at _any_ of the other first meetings he'd had… nor had he ever been so _instantly_ drawn to the soulmate. He'd let his fury at Peggy get in the way of that... but maybe he could come back soon and try to find a way to make it up to the pretty girl?

He and Thompson made quick work of dispatching Ms. Fry and the four agents with them, and then Thompson had to add salt to Daniel's wound by commenting, "You know, I kind of feel better now that you've managed to be a bigger jerk then me to one of our soulmates."

"Shut up, Thompson," Daniel growled, staring straight ahead as they searched the place for Peggy.

Thompson stepped up beside him, glancing over to look in Daniel's eyes before he realized, "You really like Angie don't you?"

"She just…" Daniel faltered. "Yeah. Seems to me like she'd be more of an open book – which is kind of nice, considering this whatever with Peggy and her lies."

Thompson hesitated and Daniel could see him debating something before the blond said, "Good for you, then. You should come back later and ask her out."

"What if she's the only other girl we've got besides Peggy and you end up alone?" Daniel asked, pointing out, pretty sure that was what Jack had been considering.

Thompson shook his head. "I don't think that's going to happen. I'm not cutting Peggy out of the equation yet; something else is going on here."

"Russia changed you two, didn't it?" Daniel asked shrewdly. "You like her now."

"I never _disliked_ her."

Daniel rolled his eyes, feeling like a grade school girl as he replied, "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Thompson half-smiled. "I know."

"And I'm right?"

"You are," Thompson admitted without blinking – or looking at Daniel, but, hey, the confession was still progress.

"Then let's go find her."

* * *

And find her they did. Then they arrested her… and cleared her name, along with clearing up the entire mess with Stark and his emptied vault.

It was late – very late – by the time Dr. Fennhoff had been arrested… and no one particularly cared but Edwin Jarvis, least of all Mr. Stark himself, Edwin realized dismally as he stood beside his employer. The genius was staring shrewdly across the air strip, studying a trio in the darkness. Following his line of sight, Edwin paled guiltily when he recognized Agents Carter, Sousa, and Thompson.

"What's going on there?" Mr. Stark asked him curiously.

"I believe they're talking," Edwin drawled.

"What are they to you?" Mr. Stark queried, not putting up with what they both knew was evasion of the real question.

"Agents Carter, Thompson, and Sousa."

Mr. Stark wheedled, "Jarvis… are they your soulmates?"

Edwin opened his mouth to lie but thought better of it. His boss would eventually find the truth out one way or another. Mr. Stark took his silence as an answer in and of itself, saying jovially, "I thought so, you lucky dog! You've got two of the prettiest brunettes I know!"

Edwin flinched, finding a way out of the conversation by saying, "Speaking of a brunette, I'd best get home to my wife."

Mr. Stark chuckled, knowing exactly what he was doing and letting him get by with it this time as he said, "Sure, Jarvis; let's go. But you _are_ going to have to tell Anna about all of this, you know."

Edwin flinched again and climbed into the driver's seat without a word.

* * *

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Daniel asked, hesitantly touching Peggy's shoulder.

She frowned, replying quietly, "Angie, actually. I owe her an explanation or twenty."

"Do you want me to go with you when you when you talk to her?" he offered impulsively, not at all sure that he would even be welcome, all things considered.

Peggy opened her mouth to decline, but before she could Jack said quickly, "You should let him." She shot him a questioning look and he revealed, "He's got it bad for her, sweetheart."

"Third strike; you're out," Daniel murmured, looking pointedly at Jack.

"What?" Peggy asked.

"That's the third time you've called her 'sweetheart' since we were at the automat."

"You've been counting?" Jack scoffed. Daniel made a face and Jack turned back to Peggy, saying, "He's just bitter because he hasn't gotten to see Miss Martinelli again yet."

"Are you that enamored?" Peggy asked Daniel with an amused smile.

"It's a good solution of sorts for the public eye," Jack pointed out to her. "Jarvis and Anna, Daniel and Angie, and me and you."

"You two are together now?" Daniel asked them with raised eyebrows.

"Sort of, kind of, working on it," Jack replied.

"Okay. Second question is what makes you think that we'll ever meet Mrs. Jarvis? Mr. Jarvis seems like he doesn't want us anywhere near her."

"I'm going to start working on it," Peggy replied lightly.

"Besides, we wouldn't have words from her if we weren't going to eventually meet her," Jack added.

"Fair enough." Daniel turned to Peggy and brought them back to point, asking, "So, Angie?"

Peggy considered him for a moment, a small smile that he couldn't interpret playing about her features before she admitted, "I'd be glad to have you there, Daniel, but this is something that needs to be between Angie and me first. I, ah, get the feeling that I'm going to be seeing a side of her that… would not make a good impression, a side that at this point I alone deserve from her. Right this moment, I am finding a bed and I am passing out until further notice. When I wake up, I am going to get Angie alone, and we are going to have that talk." She smiled weakly, requesting, "Wish me luck, boys."


	14. Chapter 14

Still half asleep and not quite registering why she had woken up in the first place, Anna rolled over in bed, hand reaching for her husband only to meet cool sheets instead. Swallowing a noise of protest, she looked blearily around the dark room… and saw the bedroom door ease open. Edwin slinked silently in, shutting the door and sitting on her vanity stool to take off his shoes. It was far too late for him to have been out, but she knew for a fact that this wasn't the first time he'd done it. Nor, she was starting to suspect, did his sudden keeping of odd hours have anything to do with managing Howard Stark's paramours as he kept claiming.

Paramours? Perhaps. Just not Mr. Stark's… And she was tired of the awful wondering. She was a naturally quiet woman by nature, but when she was angry, she made it known – and now? Now was going to be one of those times.

Giving up on her guise of still being asleep, she sat up, rubbing her eyes as she accused Edwin flatly, the fact that her accent was already thicker than usual giving away her irritation, "You're late."

"Anna!" he started, eyes snapping towards her in the darkness. "I'm sorry I woke you. Mr. Stark needed my assistance getting home. He had a bit of a late night, I'm afraid."

Anna narrowed her eyes, assessing that statement. It wasn't a lie – until very recently Edwin always rubbed his ear when he lied, and he hadn't moved to do so now – but it wasn't the entire truth either. He'd gotten good at telling those half truths over the past little while, she'd noticed, and she was finished dealing with them.

"Would you _please_ for once tell me the whole truth?" she ground out, glad they couldn't see one another's expressions in the darkness. "It's nearly _midnight_ ; _where_ have you been?"

"I told you. With Mr. Stark."

Anna lowered her head into her hands, raking her fingers through her shoulder length hair as she steeled herself and asked carefully, "These paramours you keep bringing up – are they Mr. Stark's or yours?"

"Anna!" he yelped, sounding genuinely hurt as he moved from the vanity stool to the edge of their bed, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Of course they're not my own!"

She jerked away from his touch, saying as hot tears gathered in her eyes, "I know that this thing we have isn't perfect – there're too many holes in our life together where our other soulmates should be – but I'm your wife, and I know when you're lying to me. You've been doing a great deal of that recently, and I want the truth – now!"

His hands fisted together in his lap and he sighed wearily, saying, "Very well; I suppose it is time. Perhaps you'd like a cup of tea? I'm afraid it's going to be a rather long conversation."

Anna nodded, climbing warily from bed, pulling a robe on, and trailing him into the kitchen. She slid into a seat at their table for two and watched him move around the kitchen, putting the kettle on.

As soon as she was seated, he began to speak, asking with his back still to her while he pulled the kettle out of the cupboard. "You are aware that Mr. Stark's vault was cleared out and that he was being blamed for it, correct?"

"Of course."

He filled the kettle with water, still not looking at her as he explained, "Tonight that situation was cleared up, but it's been a bit of an ongoing process… and those are the proceedings that you haven't been aware of until now. The matter has required a fair bit of espionage, actually, and no one wanted you to end up in the crosshairs." The kettle was set on the stove, the burner flipped on, and he finally turned to look her in the eye as he declared gravely, "I never _imagined_ it would make you doubt me, beloved. If I had…" he shook his head, saying fiercely, "You are worth more to me than Howard Stark will _ever_ be, and I _need_ you to know that."

The intensity in his voice worried Anna, made her wonder just how much more there was to this story, how much more was going on behind his bright eyes, and she nodded, saying gently, "I do, Edwin." She forced her tone to be a little lighter as she admitted, "I suppose it's Mr. Stark's fault that the thought even crossed my mind."

The teakettle whistled as Edwin shook his head. "Even with his influence, I must have failed you somehow for you to consider that I would be unfaithful to you in that way."

He turned back to the teakettle and filled two cups, more to hide the gleam of tears in his eyes as much as anything else Anna suspected, as she revealed gently, "It's the lies that bother me more than anything else, Edwin; I've already resigned myself to the fact that you and I aren't meant to live in monogamy."

Halfway between the stove and the table, he nearly dropped the cups he was carrying as he managed, "What?"

She smiled a little as she reached out and caught the cups, setting them on the table as she reminded him, "Our soulmarks, Edwin. There are seven of them and I'm not naïve enough to think that I'm going to be the only woman soulmate that you have, or even the only one of your soulmates that you bed. Nor, for that matter, do I expect that you'll be the only one of my soulmates that _I_ sleep with… but I do expect every one of my soulmates – you and whoever else they may turn out to be – to be honest with me. The fact that you haven't been… that's what upsets me."

Edwin slid to one knee in front of her chair, taking her hands in his and squeezing them tightly as he searched her eyes, seeming to find whatever it was he needed in their depths before he nodded as if prodding himself onward and declared, "Anna, I hate having kept this all from you, and I love you more than my own life."

"And I you," she responded gently, punctuating her words with a slow kiss.

He pressed a kiss to her knuckles and moved to sit in the chair opposite her, saying determinedly, "Alright then… about our soulmates."


	15. Chapter 15

Edwin told her everything – everything about his recent activities, about meeting four of their soulmates, and everything he knew about those people, with her commenting every once in awhile, because as much as she wanted to remain a little hurt, she found herself getting carefully excited instead.

"'You're coming with me'?" she repeated when he started telling her about meeting Agent Carter. "There was no other way you could've phrased that, particularly considering that you were _talking to a woman in a dark alley_? Meeting someone in one of those isn't exactly a gender-neutral experience! No wonder she hit you!"

He chuckled morosely, admitting, "You're so right."

"Always." She squeezed his hand from where they were still laced in the middle of the table, demanding, "Now what happened next?"

Yet she was perfectly able to get angry when he told her about being interrogated by Agent Thompson, shrieking, "The utter _gall_ of that man!"

"You're right in that too," he commented carefully.

"But what?"

He debated before saying, "As much as I've come to trust Miss Carter… I believe she feels rather deeply for Agent Thompson and that makes me nervous for her sake."

"Maybe you ought to give him another chance?" she asked hesitantly. "Personally, I'd like to meet him… he is still one of our soulmates, and there must be a reason for that."

"I know," he sighed, "Once again you're right… but this mess with Mr. Stark has left us all with a lot to work through."

"But now that we know who more of our soulmates are, we have our entire lives to work through those things, don't we?"

"These really don't have to be your problems, Anna," he said gently. "Things may very well get worse before they get better."

"But they are my problems too; you're my _husband_ and soulmate, and the others are my soulmates too. That means that I care and that I want to get involved and help every one of you in every way that I can."

"However, as your husband and soulmate, I want to keep you safe. The world that our soulmates live in isn't necessarily the one we're used to – there are too many dangerous variables – and if I can keep one… or two… of you safe from that, then my instinct is to do so."

Anna searched his eyes, asking him gently, "Even if I'm asking you not to?"

He sighed again, murmuring, "Very well. I'll see if I can't talk to Miss Carter and arrange a meeting between you and me and the other four in the near future."

"Thank you," a pause and she found her brain scrambling to process the influx of information Edwin had given her – and snagging on something that he'd just said. "Edwin, is one of our soulmate _not_ involved with the SSR? You mentioned wanting to protect _two_ of us?"

Edwin winced, muttering, "My pink words. She said them to me the same day I met Agents Thompson and Sousa. Previous to that, Miss Carter asked me not to speak to her to avoid _another_ conflict of interest because she's a waitress at the automat where Miss Carter and I most often convened and was therefore an unavoidable presence. Thompson had so upset me the day she spoke to me though, that I have yet to answer her. At all."

Anna raised her eyebrows, demanding, "Well, if this whole ordeal her and I aren't supposed to know about is over, then why haven't you fixed it yet?"

"Because… I wanted to come home to you first before you got suspicious," Anna snorted and he amended, "Even more suspicious. Besides that, Miss Carter wanted to be the one to tell her the truth. I believe she thought I had enough to handle telling you."

"She was right," Anna said with a smile before asking, "What's the waitress's name?"

"Angie Martinelli."

"You need to call Agent Carter as soon as it's daylight and find out when the earliest opportunity is that you can fix this with Angie… unless she's right in believing that you don't want her?"

"Anna," Edwin drawled, trying to hedge past that particular line of questioning before his eyes snapped to the window with surprise as he realized, "It is daylight."

Dawn, to be precise; hours had passed unnoticed while the two of them talked through the story and he had described to her as much as he knew about their soulmates.

As if to punctuate how badly they needed to return to the world outside of their kitchen table, the phone rang in the next room over.

"I'll answer it," Anna said, going to pick up the receiver. "Jarvis residence."

"Anna! Just the woman I needed to speak to! I need you and Jarvis both to come in early this morning and get one of my houses cleaned up for some new residents."

"Mr. Stark, with all due respect, Edwin has more pressing matters to attend to this morning; I would be glad to help you though."

"Well, if you insist." He rattled off the address and thanked her with a flippant, "You're a doll."

"You're welcome," Anna said lightly, glad he couldn't see her expression.

Edwin came up behind her as she hung up, asking, "What was that about?"

"Housecleaning, and, I suspect, yet again a new mistress. He wanted both of us to go ensure that one of his houses is fit for habitation. But I told him that you were going to be occupied today."

"I am?"

She raised her eyebrows, picking back up the receiver and handing it to him, reminding him pointedly, "Yes, you are – calling Agent Carter and going to see Angie."

He sighed and plucked the receiver from her fingertips, giving her a quick peck on the lips before murmuring, "As you wish. But it'll be awhile before I go to see Miss Martinelli, so I'll help you with the house first."

Seeing his hesitancy, she asked curiously, "Don't you think our soulmates will be worth it?"

"Eventually, I'm sure" he admitted. "But I'm even more certain that it's going to be a fight to get to where I know you'd like these relationships to end up, if not an actual impossibility."

"All of the best things are worth fighting for, Edwin." Anna reminded him. "Our relationship certainly was. Now," she kissed him again before walking down the hall to dress, saying, "I'll go to this house of Mr. Stark's and leave you to it."


	16. Chapter 16

In the time since Peggy had moved into the Griffith, there had been a select few times – only after _extremely_ bad or lonely days – that Angie or Peggy had ended up in one another's rooms overnight, finding comfort in the warmth of their platonic soulbond. Since getting kicked out of the Griffith, Peggy had made like poor Molly's boyfriend and snuck up the side of the building every night and into Angie's room – it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go – and the night that Howard's name had been cleared was no different in that respect.

Up until now, Peggy had adamantly refused to tell Angie the whole truth yet, just confirmed what Angie had figured out on her own – that Peggy was with the SSR and needed a nightly hiding place. Tonight, though, she was determined to tell her female soulmate the truth.

She hadn't lied to Daniel and Jack earlier, she did mean to sleep before talking to Angie – but Angie had other ideas. The aspiring actress's light was still on in her room as Peggy scaled the wall, and she was standing by the window, waiting to open it for Peggy.

"Gosh, English," Angie whispered loudly as Peggy slid into the room. "Do you know what I heard at the automat today? _Everyone_ was talking about how Howard Stark had been shot and the SSR people were there and I figured that you guys were there and-" Angie broke off with a sob, flinging herself into Peggy's arms – and the tears she were shedding weren't an act this time around.

"Angie," Peggy soothed gently, running a hand over the other woman's hair. "I am safe, and so is Howard. It's over. Everything is over now; Howard's been cleared."

"What about the others?" Angie asked, sniffing as she looked worriedly into Peggy's eyes. "Thompson and the butler?" Angie paled a little more as she asked as if particularly struck by the thought of harm coming to him, "Daniel?"

"All perfectly accounted for," Peggy declared with a smile. "And unharmed… give or take."

"What does that mean?" Angie asked carefully.

"There was a mild incident with a hallucinogen of Howard's, but it's of no account now."

"So… what does that mean… for the six of us?"

"It means," Peggy sighed heavily against Angie's hair as she pulled her close enough so that the younger girl was resting her head against Peggy's shoulder. "That I have a lot of explaining to do. Would you rather have your answers now or in the morning?"

Angie pulled away only far enough to search the exhausted features of Peggy's face, biting her lip. The impatient New Yorker in her was long past starved for those answers, but Peggy obviously needed sleep.

Before she could answer though, tell her to go to bed and they could talk later, Peggy saw the look on her face, declaring, "Answers now, then. You may want to sit down though."

So Angie took Peggy's hand and led her over to the bed, making her sit, slipping off her shoes, tucking her underneath the covers like she was a child, just listening all the while as Peggy filled in the gaps in the story. In the end, the two women were both lying side by side in the bed, arms and legs shamelessly intertwined while their eyelids started to droop.

"Sleep, English," Angie said at length. "We've still got an hour until I gotta be down for breakfast."

And that was all that it took for Peggy to become deadweight in Angie's arms. Not two minutes later, a knock sounded at Angie's door.

The nurse from three doors down, Ruthie, called out, "Angie, someone left a message for you on the telephone!"

Angie sighed, carefully disentangling herself from Peggy's grasp before she went to open the door a crack and accept the slip of paper Ruthie held out with a bland "thanks" before she shut the door in her face. She couldn't risk getting kicked out, and that was what would happen if Ms. Fry found out that Peggy was in the building.

She skimmed the note in her hand and her eyes widened with surprise. _Mr. Jarvis wants to know if he can meet with you at the automat today._

Well!

So glad that she and Peggy had already had that talk – wherein Peg had explained everything about Mr. Jarvis, even the part she had played in his not speaking to her – Angie felt excitement swell up inside of her. He wanted to meet with her! Did that mean that he actually wanted her in his life, like her soulmark claimed?

She spun on her toes, nightgown whirling about her calves, and for the first time in like what felt like forever, she couldn't wait to go into work.

"Angie?" Ruthie called out from the other side of the door. "You're popular today; I got another message for you."

Angie snorted and again opened the door just long and far enough to snatch up the message. _I apologize for the second call, but Mr. S wants you and Miss Carter to come to this residence after your work day is complete._

 _Mr. S_? _As in Howard Stark_? Angie wondered, scanning the address of a house in one of the city's more upscale areas. _Could this day_ get _any more interesting_?

* * *

Peggy looked over her shoulder at Daniel, feeling a little surprised that he had asked her out for drinks. She wasn't surprised so much that he had asked her, but that he hadn't asked Angie. He'd learned just last night that she and Jack were going out together, which would have been a deterrent had their circumstances been normal, and in one of their few stolen moments together, Jack had confided in Peggy just how much Daniel wished he could meet Angie again, truly get to know her.

Despite the fact that they were _all_ soulmates, Daniel's desire was one that Peggy understood. She had a running theory that even within their group soulbond, one person was pulled a bit more to one person than any of the others. That certainly explained how Steve and Bucky had so often put their lives on the line for one another, how Mr. Jarvis had been willing to entirely forego a relationship with all of his other soulmates if it meant keeping Anna safe, how Jack's first remark to Peggy had hurt _far_ more than she thought it would. Because there was just this _particular_ pull she felt towards the blond man. And that was what Daniel and Angie had both described to her when it came to the other. Even under the disastrous circumstances in which they had met, that pull was still there, and considering how awful Peggy had been to him recently, she wanted to see to it that instinct was fostered.


	17. Chapter 17

"Daniel," she said, watching him as he turned expectantly back to her. "If you're in the mood for something besides a beer later, you may want to go with me and Jack to the L&L Automat after work. They've got good pie, and, ah, I think you'd enjoy the view you'll find there."

Daniel looked at her strangely, but she just grinned at him, somehow knowing that he would take her advice.

* * *

She noticed him. Just like she always did, just like he always thought she didn't, Angie noticed the moment Mr. Edwin Jarvis stepped into the automat. It was early enough that they were past the lunch rush but also had time if they wanted to talk before the after-work crowd started coming in. He was well-dressed _and_ had nice timing. She could get behind that.

He sat down at a table that was in her section – on purpose, she hoped – and she sashayed over to the table, asking teasingly, "You gonna point to what you want again?"

He glanced at her nervously, fiddling with the cuff of his suit – without saying a word.

"Hey," she said carefully, trying not to let her disappointment shine through. "It's fine. I'll get you your coffee, alright?"

She was back within a couple of minutes, setting the saucer and cup down on the table. If he needed time to gather his nerve, then she could try her best to give that to him; she had come at him pretty harshly the last time they'd talked, after all.

There was a sharp, nearly panicked inhale from the butler and then suddenly a hand was clamped firmly around her wrist, and she wasn't going anywhere. She wasn't sure that she minded as he looked up at her with those wide eyes, obviously trying to find the right words. She smiled gently, encouragingly, already knowing full well what those words would be.

And he spoke… or managed to croak out a couple of words: "Darling Angie," her smile widened – he was on the right track so far – and he cleared his throat, encouraged by her expression as he tried again, saying in a low, impassioned tone that cut straight through all her remaining insecurities, "I am so sorry I hurt you, and I don't ever want you to think that you are unwanted because, frankly, I find myself quite entranced with you, without us ever having spoken together."

Angie melted, smiling as she admitted softly, "I love you too."

He opened his mouth to say something more, but some man on the opposite side of the aisle called out, "Miss, I have my order ready now."

Angie's entire face fell as Edwin – dear lord; no, that was not an acceptable name; she was going to call him Eddie if it killed him – clamped his lips closed, an amused and sympathetic smile tilting them at her expression. "I hate the service industry," she murmured under her breath.

He laughed outright, informing her, "It could be worse."

"How!"

"You could spend your days catering to the whims of an eccentric millionaire like Howard Stark."

She winced as the customer repeated, "Miss?"

"Go on," Eddie said, inclining his head towards the man as he ran his thumb experimentally over the back of her hand. "The customer must always come first."

"You're a customer."

"And I will be here until the end of your shift. Go, I don't want you to be reprimanded."

She granted him one more smile and turned away to go do her work. For the next couple of hours, every time she looked his way, he was looking back at her. Until, ten minutes until her shift ended, he was looking elsewhere. Because there were three more people crowded around the table where he sat. Peggy, Agent Thompson… and Daniel.

At that exact moment, Peg caught her eye and waved her over eagerly with one hand, eyes canting pointedly towards Daniel. Even in her own excitement over seeing Daniel there, it didn't escape Angie's notice that Agent Thompson was holding Peggy's other hand under the table.

 _So that's how this is gonna work_. Eddie and Anna, Peg and Thompson… and her and Daniel?

At Peggy's movement, all three men at the table turned to look at her. A shy smile came to Daniel's face, and she pressed her hand to her heart, feeling it give an unexpected flutter. Realizing she must be wearing the goofiest of smiles, she plastered on what she hoped was a confident smile that didn't show the giddy emotions causing butterflies of the best kind in her stomach and waltzed over, unable to resist softly laying a hand on Daniel's shoulders as she asked congenially, "Can I get you anything?"

"Nah," Agent Thompson said. "The four of us are going to be leaving soon."

"We hoped you'd join us," Daniel added carefully, giving her much the same panicked but adoring look that Eddie had earlier.

She squeezed his shoulder, replying brightly, "I'd love to."

The next ten minutes were some of the longest in her life, and the moment the clock gave her permission, she was grabbing her purse and skidding to a halt in front of the table occupied by her soulmates. "Ready?"

"Do you even know where we're going?" Peggy asked in amusement.

"Nope, and I don't care, so long as you all are coming. Is it the address Mr. Stark gave me?"

"Well, there's been a slight change of plans," Peggy said. "Jack and Mr. Jarvis have a couple of things that they need to discuss, so I'm going to go with them to our destination, and you and Daniel are going to drive back to the Griffith since I assumed that you would want to, ah," she grinned at Angie's hand, which had fallen back onto Daniel's shoulder without the waitress even noticing. "Change out of your uniform."

"Mm," Angie grinned unabashedly. "That does sound nice."

Eddie broke in, saying carefully, "You should, however, expect your room to be a little… devoid of personal affects."

"Why?" Angie asked in alarm.

"Mr. Stark's errand this morning turned out to be a little more complicated then he at first presented it to be," Eddie answered cryptically, looking like he was enjoying his secret. "But I promise you won't mind the end result."


	18. Chapter 18

Daniel swallowed nervously, watching the street in front of the car windshield as Angie drove the two of them towards the Griffith. "You know," he said to say _something_ – and it might just turn out to be pertinent if she agreed with him, "While you were finishing up your shift, Peggy was telling us about a theory she has about our group."

"Which theory is that?" Angie asked curiously. "I've gotten the impression that she thinks about us a lot."

Daniel flushed, hoping she wouldn't think he was being too forward. "That there is, ah, a special pull between certain duos in the group."

She smiled sideways at him, eyes twinkling as she declared, "I think she's right."

"Me too," he admitted.

Angie's grin widened and she let one hand fall from the steering wheel, placing her hand over the one that he had on his knee. He smiled, feeling the tension dissolve out of the air as he flipped his palm over and squeezed her hand, requesting, "So tell me about yourself, Angie. I want to know everything."

At his prompting, she began to tell him about her job, her preferences, her dreams of Broadway. He loved every second of it – and that was that.

* * *

Peggy didn't quite breathe properly from the time they left the automat until they were at the address that Howard had given Angie. However, by the time they arrived, she'd gotten Jack and Mr. Jarvis – _should she call him Edwin, or as she'd heard Angie do earlier in the day, even Eddie?_ – to agree to try a truce on for size. She just hoped that it held in the face of the woman she assumed they were about to meet, the woman who had inadvertently caused such a problem in the first place. Poor, unsuspecting Anna.

Mr. Jarvis sounded incredibly pleased as he pulled up to the three-story mansion and declared, "Welcome to your new home, Miss Carter, Agent Thompson. Shall we go in?"

"Let's wait," Peggy said impulsively, looking out at the large white house. "For Daniel and Angie."

"You know that could be awhile, right?" Jack asked with a smirk, turning around to raise an eyebrow at her from where he sat in the passenger seat.

"No, it won't," she corrected absently. "Ms. Fry would never let Daniel above the lobby. Not a second time, anyway."

"Right," Jack drawled. "It's a 'security matter'."

"I didn't assume you'd be in a hurry to get chewed out anyway," Peggy remarked, eyeing him teasingly as she remembered the words she'd seen once resting between his shoulder blades.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Jarvis asked in confusion.

Ignoring his question, Peggy asked one of her own: "Is Anna a talkative woman?"

"Not generally. Only when she's angry."

Peggy snorted, Jack winced… and Mr. Jarvis' mouth twitched with a grin as understanding dawned. Then the British man pointed out cheerfully, "Ah, there Miss Martinelli and Agent Sousa are now! Time to go in!"

"Come on," Peggy laughed, getting out, opening the passenger side door, and half-dragging Jack our and up the steps.

"You know what?" Jack said suddenly, finding a way to prolong the inevitable. "You, Jarvis, and Angie go on ahead; I'll stick with Daniel."

Peggy shook her head, still amused, but let the two men lag behind as Angie caught up with her and Mr. Jarvis.

* * *

Angie and Daniel both had been grinning like lunatics in love – which they kind of were – from the moment they pulled up in front of the car, and Angie's excitement only got stronger the farther into the house she got with Peggy and Mr. Jarvis. When she disappeared to go call her mother in some other room, Peggy didn't quite know what to do with the space that stretched between her and Mr. Jarvis now that they didn't have Howard's mission between them.

And she _really_ didn't know what to do when Mr. Jarvis handed her the vial of Steve's blood. But he was searching her face, desperately looking for a reaction from her. He was proving that his loyalty to her went far beyond his ties to Howard Stark, and she was truly struck – not even for the first time – by the look of unspoken love in his eyes. And, well, he was so close to her – _right there_ – and they _were_ soulmates, and there was no way that she was ever going to verbalize how grateful she was to him. So she threw their unspoken agreement and boundaries out the window and she kissed him.

And was shocked straight down to her toes when he kissed her back.

If she hadn't loved him before now – and after everything they had been through together, she was already _fairly_ sure that she did already – she _certainly_ did in that moment.

They hastily broke the kiss when they heard Howard coming into the house, talking to whoever had met him at the door as he walked towards the sitting room that they were in. Peggy couldn't decide whether to smile, laugh, cry, or scream. Something was starting to tell her that she was going to have done all of the above by days' end.

* * *

"So, how are the paramours liking the new place?" a wheedling voice asked as Angie heard the door to their new house open and close when she hung up with her mother.

"Don't call them that, please," a second new voice said softly, and then holy crap! Howard Stark was walking past her without seeing her as he talked to a tiny brunette on his opposite side.

Apparently the soft-spoken woman wasn't the only woman who objected, because as Angie stepped unnoticed into the doorway through which she'd disappeared earlier, Peggy demanded, "Hush, Howard."

"Oh, come on," Mr. Stark shamelessly jostled his shoulder against, what was the woman? His housekeeper? "You can't honestly believe that the two of them haven't slept together yet!"

"You," Peggy spoke up crisply. "Are drunk, aren't you, Howard?"

"Just... tingly."

Eddie barely contained a sigh as he guessed, "I take it getting your inventions back didn't go as smoothly as you had planned?"


	19. Chapter 19

Howard nodded and promptly started cursing a number of generals and higher-ups in the SSR… before he declared, "But at least I know I'm having a better day then poor Anna, considering what I'm pretty sure I just glimpsed."

Eddie and English both paled, but Angie saw something snap in the eyes of the woman who was apparently one of their soulmates. The woman's accent became more pronounced then it had been before as she said evenly, "You know, Mr. Stark, I think you need to go home and lie down. Edwin, I don't suppose you'd like to help me get him out to the car? The groundskeeper is just finishing up on the outdoor updates; we'll get him to drive Mr. Stark home this time."

"I don't want to leave;" Howard declared, his semi-smashed state becoming clearer the longer he stood in the middle of the room, swaying ever so slightly. "This is gonna be interesting to watch."

"Mr. Stark, you don't have a choice at this point," Anna replied primly, grabbing one of the man's arms as Eddie took the other. "What's about to happen is my soulmates' business, not yours. Thank you for the new accommodations, but it is time that you leave them for awhile."

And then the trio went out the door.

* * *

Anna ignored the curious eyes of the two men who she, Mr. Stark, and Edwin bypassed in the hallway as she went outside with the two men and she located the groundskeeper that Mr. Stark kept in his employ while Edwin shuffled their boss into his car.

"Mr. Chandler," she declared, finding him bent over the flowerbed, picking up his tools. "Mr. Stark is ready to go and would like you to drive him."

The groundskeeper raised his eyebrows at the unusual request, but today wasn't a day that Anna felt like backing down over anything and it showed in her expression.

"Alright-y, then," the older man agreed, sparing a glance down at his filthy coveralls. "You sure Mr. Stark won't mind the mess in his car?"

"I'm sure he won't even notice," she replied dryly.

The poor man winced, realizing what sort of a task awaited him, but he just nodded again, picked up his tools, and went on his way towards the car. Anna met Edwin back on the stoop where he stood waiting for her.

"So," she asked carefully, looking up at him. "What exactly did Mr. Stark think he'd glimpsed?"

Edwin's hand was trembling when she took it in her own as he said only, "You did say it was alright."

"I take it that means that Agent Carter was extremely glad to have Captain Rogers' blood in her possession again?"

A muscle twitched in Edwin's expression as he answered, "I suppose you could call it that."

A gentle smile tilted Anna's mouth as she squeezed her husband's hand, silently demanding his full attention as she said, "You're right; I did say it was fine with me, and quite frankly, I think it's been a long time in coming for you, where that particular soulmate of ours is concerned."

"Anna!" he gasped. "I would do nothing of the sort without your knowledge."

"I know," Anna assured him. "We've had this conversation, remember? And with my knowledge – and I do have the complete story now – you are free to do whatever you desire so long as the others are in agreement as well. And judging by the, ah," she brushed her thumb along the edge of Edwin's mouth with a teasing grin, "Lipstick, I'd say we know at least one of them is." She barely gave him time to blush before she gave into her excitement and tugged him towards the door, demanding with a smile, "Come on; I want to meet them!"

* * *

Peggy didn't even try to stop the gleeful smile spreading across her face as she watched Anna and Eddie – she could bring herself to call him Eddie now that she'd _kissed_ him – escort Howard out of the house. Saying he had sought drink merely because of his inventions was probably incorrect – he _had_ been hypnotized and almost shot the night before – but Peggy was more amused by the fact that a woman even Eddie had described as quiet was throwing Howard Stark out of a house that he owned. She was glad to see that Anna was apparently less inclined to put up with Howard's antics then Eddie.

And she was going to say so when the Jarvises came back into the room, but before they could, Angie sidled up to her, declaring, "I think I like that woman already."

"Me too," Jack said from the opposite doorway as he and Daniel came into the room.

Limping further into the room so that he could wrap an arm around Angie's waist as he spoke, Daniel gestured to the way that Eddie and Anna had gone, inquiring, "Are they alright?"

"Howard is understandably…not sober, and they're putting him in his car."

"It looked more like she was kicking him out," Jack pointed out.

"He said something that Anna didn't like," Angie supplied before asking Peggy curiously, "What were they talking about?"

Peggy hesitated, putting on her best "innocent" expression as she nearly squeaked, "Kissing?"

"Called it!" Angie shouted gleefully.

"I thought you were calling your mother?" an amused Eddie asked, him and Anna having snuck up behind Jack.

Realizing they were behind him, Jack stepped into the room and out of their way, getting comfortable on one of the couches in the room.

Realizing the momentous conversation that was about to begin, Peggy folded herself into the space beside him, commenting to Anna as she did so, "I'm glad to see that not everyone will take Howard's ridiculousness."

"She usually does, though," Eddie remarked, watching as Angie and Daniel sat down across from Peggy and Jack.

"Angry, is she?" Jack asked, shifting nervously.

Anna shrugged as she sat on the edge of the couch beside Angie, suddenly timid as she ignored the men and answered her remark with, "He doesn't really bother me anymore; I know he's lying." Her eyes flitted pointedly to her husband as she added, "I can usually tell when people are lying."


	20. Chapter 20

Peggy frowned as she grabbed Eddie's hand and pulled him down to sit on her other side, while Angie reminded Anna, "They were just trying to protect us, you know."

"That doesn't mean that I have to like it," Anna replied a little tersely.

"Oh, no, I didn't say that."

"Holding things against people is harmful to any relationship, though, soulmate or otherwise," Peggy said. "I believe the boys and I discussed that on the way here."

"Thank you for reminding me!" Anna said, her voice suddenly regaining some of the fearless tone that she'd used with Howard as she looked Jack straight in the eye, pointing an accusatory finger as she demanded, "Next time you consider threatening someone with deportation – don't!"

"Yeah," Jack drawled, rubbing the back of his neck in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. "I should probably apologize for that."

Beside him, Peggy snorted, repeating in disbelief, "'Probably'?"

"I should say so," Anna muttered to herself, digging her fisted hands into the couch as she started to feel unpleasantly overwhelmed.

Angie laid a concerned hand on her arm, asking, "Are you alright?"

"Of course. Why would you think otherwise?" She knew as well as anyone else that her half-smile was unconvincing though.

From Angie's other side, Daniel spoke to her for the first time, pointing out as he looked at her worriedly, "You did just kick a millionaire out of what is technically his own house."

She sniffed, declaring almost flippantly, "It was apparently on the days' to-do list, and I think he's deserved it for awhile."

Edwin blinked in surprise at her brutal honesty and the others grinned like they weren't sure they should. Looking around at these five of her soulmates, whatever had coiled in Anna vaporized and she groaned, realizing the things she'd been saying – the soulmarks these poor people had lived with because of her out of sorts temper.

She buried her face in her hands, promising, "I'm not normally like this."

She heard someone stand from the other couch and crouch in front of her. Anna anticipated Edwin, but the hands that pulled her palms away from her eyes were too small to be her husband's. Peggy's dark eyes stared into her own as the Englishwoman said lightly, "Only when angered, right?"

Anna glanced at Edwin, knowing he was where the information had come from, and then back at Peggy, nodding as she admitted meekly, "My tongue gets a mind of its own then."

"That's alright," Peggy glanced pointedly at Daniel as she murmured, "We all say things we don't mean sometimes."

"But Jack's right," Daniel said. "Those things can be forgiven – sometimes even easily, if we're willing to forgive them."

He smiled at Peggy, who was quick to return the gesture and Anna recognized that their words had a dual meaning for them, whatever that might be. Catching a shift in Jack's expression, she saw that he knew about whatever had just been patched up and the resolution pleased him. Anna's eyes narrowed at they flitted between the three of them, thinking but not quite allowing herself to think it all the way through before she acted. She surged onto her feet and tugged Angie into the spot she'd occupied before pulling Peggy onto her feet and then shoving her into the space that had opened up on Daniel's opposite side.

"I think you ought to stay right there," Anna said firmly, meeting Peggy's startled expression with amusement in her own eyes.

Then she froze, realizing where exactly this situation put her. Seeing her hesitate, Peggy reached out and wordlessly gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. Angie volunteered helpfully, "He's a really good hugger."

Daniel chuckled, Peggy and Edwin raised their eyebrows, and Angie demanded, "Don't ask."

Anna turned hesitantly towards the empty space between Jack and Edwin and her husband beckoned, "You can come here."

So she did – but the dregs of her adrenaline kicked in and she sat down sideways, putting her feet in Edwin's lap and daring to rest her head and shoulders on Jack's knees. Both men looked at her like she'd lost her mind, and Edwin even opened his mouth to protest.

Before he could speak, she dug the toe of her high heel into his thigh, declaring gaily, "Considering the blood and kisses of a little bit ago, I don't want to hear it."

Edwin shut his mouth, but Daniel repeated suspiciously, "'Blood'?"

"So there were kisses?" Jack asked at the same time.

"M-hm," Anna answered them both at once, capturing Jack's hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles, both of them blushing as she asked, "Is that okay with you?"

He stammered out a nearly adorable, "I guess so."

Edwin looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or scream as he eased her shoes off of her feet and the other four people in the room looked downright shocked. Yes, usually she was as sedate as her husband and even quieter than him, but today had been an unusual day and she was fine with acting accordingly if she wanted to. Though, at least laying down seemed to be calming her down and bringing her back to herself, so to speak.

"What blood?" Daniel asked, completely undeterred as he looked between Peggy and Edwin. "Captain Rogers'?"

"It's in my jacket right now," Peggy revealed with a dejected sigh. "Please, Daniel, let me do with it what I want."

"What are you planning on doing with it though?" Jack asked, absently winding one of Anna's brown curls around his finger.

"I don't have a body to bury or ashes to spread, and quite frankly I can't bring myself to completely believe that he's dead, but I want to do _something_ to commemorate him. I want to go to the Brooklyn Bridge and empty the vial into the river."

"What could possibly be the problem with that?" Edwin asked Jack instantly, looking to him as the head of the SSR – and the man who could confiscate the vial if he wanted to. "The blood is rendered utterly useless that way; there's no chance of anyone getting hurt or of it falling into the wrong hands."


	21. Chapter 21

Angie added, "And I'm just throwing this out there: I met Peg on the anniversary of Captain America's death, and, no offence, English, but… you need the closure something like that would bring."

Anna stared intently up at Jack, watching him consider all of this before he said gravely, "Alright, bridge it is."

Then something in the way that Daniel looked at Jack changed as a new thought – or perhaps it was an old one about to be brought up – occurred to the wounded veteran. Jack tensed slightly under Anna, giving a small nod before Daniel took a deep breath and ran his hand over Peggy's asking carefully, "Why are they – Captain America and Lieutenant Barnes – so important to you?"

Peggy's eyes slammed closed, she took a deep breath… and then she leaned over, pulling her right shoe off and rubbing at her ankle. Concealer came off on her palm, revealing the navy words underneath.

She opened her mouth to try and speak, but when she couldn't, Daniel wordlessly rolled up his left sleeve to reveal his words in the same hand and guessed, "Captain America?"

Peggy nodded, pressing a hand to her stomach as she managed, "The gray words are Bucky's; they're here on me."

And when the confession was out in the open, she began to cry – real heart wrenching sobs that had been kept at bay for too long. Daniel gathered her into his arms and Angie shifted the three of them on the couch again, going to Peggy's other side to hug her too. Anna scrambled onto her feet, following Jack and Edwin as they joined the other three in their embrace. Jack went behind the couch, resting his head atop Peggy's as he wound his arms around her shoulders and Edwin and Anna both knelt at her feet, taking her hands, all of them holding her through the tears and beginning to cry with her.

This was no longer just her burden to bear; it belonged to all of them and they would carry it – and her – more than willingly. That's what being soulmates was – doubling the joy and dividing the pain – just like with any relationship. They were just blessed times seven – or five, as it was… but that's when Anna saw the truth very literally.

It wasn't just Peggy that they were embracing anymore; at some point they'd all ended up on the floor in front of the couch, one mass of humanity, together as they cried and comforted one another. Edwin's hand was resting between Jack's shoulder blades, Angie was holding Anna's hand, Daniel was openly leaning on Jack's shoulder as he and Edwin cradled Peggy between them. Even though Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Barnes weren't here… they were – and they had just brought their six soulmates together.

Even though she didn't know these people very well yet beyond what Edwin had told her, Anna could recognize the near-miracle that was occurring here. The captain and lieutenant weren't here, but what was here was working out. They were all a mess, but they were each others' mess. Their group wasn't complete, and it might never be; things weren't perfect, but they were going to be okay – they were going to make this work out with who they did have. And for now that was going to have to be enough.

* * *

It was a solid two hours before Peggy found herself where she wanted to be – alone on the Brooklyn Bridge with the now-empty vial that had contained Steve's blood dangling between her fingertips. She dropped the vial, watching it plummet into the water below before she looked into the skyline… and felt someone's fingertips flutter lightly onto her shoulder.

Peggy snorted, brushing away the last of her tears without bothering to turn around. She'd had to beg and plead and outright threaten a couple of people in order to make this trip by herself, yet she still wasn't surprised in the least that one of her soulmates – or all of them, if she heard the number of approaching footsteps correctly – had followed her here.

"You really didn't get the message that I wanted to be alone, did you?"

"I've seen you talk about being alone enough to know that it's never what you want…Peggy," Edwin, the owner of the fingertips, said softly. "It's what you feel you need, or perhaps even deserve, in order to protect those around you. But it is never what you've truly wanted, nor is it something any of us are inclined to allow you."

Jack and Angie stepped up to the bridge's ledge, one on either side of her as Angie said, "He's right; we're in this for the long haul, no matter what."

"We may not have known Rogers and Barnes," Daniel said, wrapping an arm around Angie as he came up behind the waitress. "But that's a kind of pain in and of itself, so you might as well stop trying to protect us from something that you'll never be able to fix no matter how much you want to."

"Thing is, darlin'," Jack commented, pulling her to him. "We know _you,_ and it will always be worth it – to all of us – to do whatever we can to ease your pain, even if that means taking some of it on ourselves. _You_ are worth protecting and sheltering – even from yourself, even when you don't want us. We're here, and you're stuck with us."

"If Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Barnes are half the men we've been told they are," Anna pointed out gently. "I daresay that's what they'd want."

Peggy attempted to make a face at Anna, hating that the woman instinctively knew what buttons to push as she admitted – at long last, "It is."

"Then let us in!" Jack said in exasperation, and Peggy's half-hearted smile was self-depreciating as she leaned into him.

"Maybe," Edwin said carefully, "This is the wrong time to bring it up, but he does have a point… particularly if we're going to follow through with accepting the living arrangements Mr. Stark has set up in his house."

"What do you mean?" Angie asked.


	22. Chapter 22

"Well, the house – that I realize now none of you really got the full tour of – is set up as three apartments for three couples… considering as Mr. Stark assumed that we'd like to keep up some sort of a ruse rather than publicly admit to our rather unusual… situation with one another."

"So he what?" Jack asked. "Wants us to get married or something?"

"That's what he indicated earlier today," Anna confessed.

"Like…" Angie looked over her shoulder at Daniel. "Me and Daniel get married, and English and Jack?"

Daniel smiled at her, admitting, "I think I could handle that."

Jack's arm around Peggy's waist stiffened and the Englishwoman knew he was far too aware of where they were and what she'd just done to even attempt that conversation with her at the moment. So she's have to do it herself.

"Me too," she muttered, turning from the skyline to stare up into Jack's worried eyes instead. "I mean it; I – we – have to accept that this moment right here may be the only closure we get concerning Steve and Bucky… and I honestly do want to marry you. If you'll have me?"

An unusually gentle smile blossomed on his face as he replied, "Of course I will," and leaned down to kiss her.

* * *

They were married by years' end – Daniel to Angie and Peggy to Jack – in a very small ceremony with only Anna, Edwin, and Howard as witnesses. It was a nice way to start a good life – a life where three couples each rented a level of the same house from Howard Stark… and of course those couples became good friends.

It was a ruse that they perfected to the outside world – they didn't even tell Howard and Maria's son the real truth – but in the privacy of that home they were different. They were closer. It wasn't as though it was anyone else's business who shared a bed or a kiss with who, or just how close one person sat to another, or if the six of them ate together at every opportunity and spent a little time in one living room or another every possible evening before bed.

They loved one another – just how much and in what way was anyone's guess – and that was their own business… and it was a fact that never changed.

* * *

 _December 31, 1946_

"I swear to you, _Agent Sousa_ , I will be there as soon as humanly possible; right now, I have to finish these god-awful reports before I miss my deadline," Jack groused, eyeing Daniel and Peggy from across his desk.

"Anna has a deadline for when we can be home, too, you know, and she'll kill you if you're not back to see the ball drop," Peggy pointed out.

Jack had to fight putting his head in his hands because he knew full-well that Anna had a very good reason for wanting him home – New Year's Eve was still a hard day for Peggy – but he also trusted that their other four soulmates could take care of her if it was necessary. "I know, and I'll be there," he hissed. "So long as I'm _left alone_ long enough to finish these. Angie's got her car waiting for you two outside; I'll drive home in the one we drove here in – after I'm done with these reports."

"Fine," Peggy agreed as Daniel just sighed and turned towards the door. "It's your head Anna will have, not mine."

"What can I say?" Jack asked. "Being head of the SSR is hard."

"You're the _face_ of the SSR," his wife corrected. "Daniel and I run this operation as much as you do."

"I know, but it just so happens that _these_ reports need _my_ name on them, so I will apologize to Anna appropriately when I get back to the house – which is where you and Susan need to be."

"I can here you!" Daniel called from the doorway.

"That's because it's quiet right now – because all the sane people have already gone home," Peggy sassed Jack.

"Uh-huh," he pulled her down for a quick kiss, declaring, "I love you both and I will see you soon; goodbye."

Peggy frowned at him one more time, but went to Daniel and allowed him to lead her out to the car. Jack stood from his desk and looked down at the street below as they climbed into Angie's car. His periphery caught a metallic flash on the sidewalk near them – or at least he thought so – because when he paid closer attention, he didn't see anything. So he rubbed his eyes with a sigh, chalked it up to still being at work at 10 p.m., and went back to work. It was probably going to be near impossible for him to get home in time to keep Anna happy with him, but maybe the sooner he managed it, the less wrath he would have to endure.

As he sat back down, he thought that maybe, maybe he heard the ding of the elevator opening… but it was more likely that he was imagining things he reminded himself, even while his hand tightened on the gun at his hip. He was being paranoid; if there was any noise, it was coming from the crowded streets below, not inside this room.

Then something immerged from the shadows in the farthest corner of his office. Jack's heart hammered as he registered a man – pointing some sort of advanced gun at him.

"Hey now, let's not be hasty here!" Jack pleaded, jerking his own gun out to point it between the man's eyes. "I'll have too many people mad at me today if I'm in the hospital instead of at home with my family for the ball drop."

Something shifted in the eyes that Jack could barely see as the man took a tentative step from the shadows. Shaggy hair, full-body armor… and a metal arm.

 _What the heck are you?_ Jack wondered in between mental prayers that the man not kill him. What he said was, "Trust me, buddy, you don't want my Peggy or Anna Jarvis mad at you. Please, come on, put your gun down and don't shoot me. I run this whole operation, and that makes me kind of important."

The words that the man hissed were the last ones Jack had expected: "You know Peggy Carter, don't you?"


	23. Chapter 23

Jack swore under his breath, but before he could answer the question, pain exploded in his gut and he looked down, shocked to see dark red start spreading over his white shirt. He crumpled to the floor and the man came to stand over him.

"I'm sorry," the man muttered, raising his gun over Jack's head.

There was a blunt pain in the agent's head, and then darkness.

* * *

Angie had barely driven twenty feet down the road before Peggy screamed. "What?" Angie cried, slamming on the breaks.

"A light flashed in Jack's office!"

"He probably flipped his desk light on, English," Angie objected.

"I know a gunshot when I see it!" Peggy insisted. "Now turn this vehicle _around_!"

Paling, Angie immediately did as ordered and Peggy was out of the car and racing towards the office before Angie had even stopped completely. Her soulmates weren't far behind her as she fell to her knees at Jack's side on the floor of his office.

Angie gasped, and Daniel tried to shield her from the sight as he swore.

"Call an ambulance!" Peggy demanded, gripping her husband's hand as he faded in and out of consciousness.

"We can't, not in here," Daniel reminded, sounding nearly as frantic as Peggy did before he forced himself to calm down.

"Then call Howard!" Peggy howled.

"We can take him to the hospital ourselves," Daniel decided before pointing out apologetically, "But, Angie, sweetheart, you and Peggy have to move him; with my crutch-"

"Of course," Angie drew a shuddering breath to steel herself as she brushed past her husband and crouched to grab Jack's feet. "Ready, English. Into the elevator on three. One, two, three."

Jack groaned in agony when the women lifted him, but Daniel ordered grimly, "You've got to get him to the car; he'd do better if he passed out anyway."

With that in mind, they managed to make miraculously quick work of getting him down to the car and then to the hospital. Once there, Daniel volunteered to be the one to call their house and tell their other soulmates the news.

Quietly he murmured in Angie's ear, "You were there with Peg last New Year's; this is too much, you can tell by looking at her. I don't know how to help, but maybe you…"

"I'll see what I can do," Angie nodded, both of them eyeing Peggy as she sobbed in a waiting room chair.

Then Daniel sighed and limped towards the phone and Angie went over and folded herself into the chair beside Peggy.

"Hey, English, he'll be alright," Angie cooed, forcing her own tears down as she took Peggy's hand in her own and pulled the woman to her. Peggy just curled into Angie's touch and Angie buried her face in her soulmate's neck, finally letting her own sobs loose. "We won't lose him," she promised through her tears. "We can't."

* * *

A half hour later, Anna and Eddie had joined them in the waiting room, and then Howard came in, asking urgently as he crossed the room's threshold, "How is he?"

"Stable, the doctors think," Eddie grit out hollowly. "He's in surgery now."

"What happened?" Howard asked, sinking onto the bench that Daniel already occupied.

Daniel shook his head, admitting, "We don't know; Peggy, Angie, and I were just starting on our way home from the office when Peggy saw the gun flash and made Angie turn around. He was alone, practically unconscious, and bleeding out onto the floor when we got back to him."

"Oh, man," Howard breathed before asking, "What do you think happened?"

"I just told you."

Howard leaned closer to Daniel a little as he explained, "No, you told me the facts; you're an agent, I want your professional opinion on what happened in there."

Daniel's hollow gaze sparked with _something_ as he sighed, looking away from where his four other soulmates were clustered together on the other side of the small room as he muttered, "Jack's the face of the SSR now; he's important, and what happened was too quick and clean to be anything but…"

When he couldn't even bring himself to finish his sentence, Howard did it for him, "A professional hit? You think it was a hired gun?"

"Probably," Daniel seethed under his breath.

"Then we'll find him," Howard declared simply, looking over at the other four – Angie and Peggy still clinging to one another and Eddie and Anna murmuring softly to one another where they sat on a bench seat. "I promise… I'm very good at the whole 'never stop looking' thing and this guy'll be in the top three."

"Who are the other two?" Daniel asked absently, looking like he wanted some sort of a distraction.

Howard answered like it was obvious: "Cap and Barnes."

* * *

Hours passed. The ball dropped, the hoards celebrating throughout the city got even louder, and what little control Peggy had managed to garner fell instantly away as she burst into racking sobs. She had been leaning her head on Eddie's shoulder with Angie sitting on her other side as she stared through Anna and Daniel who were propping one another up while they managed to catch a few minutes' sleep. Her hands fisted together, nails digging into palms as she whispered, terror lacing her words, "I can't do this again. Not yet; I'm not ready for him to leave."

"He won't," Eddie promised soothingly, carefully uncurling her hand. "He's far too stubborn to leave us before he wants to."

That coaxed the smallest of smiles from her and he suddenly wished for all the world that he could kiss her fears away right there, but he couldn't. Here, in public, they had to keep up their ruse of being three separate couples, nothing but concerned neighbors… and he'd never hated it quite so much as he did right that minute.

Jack's surgeon had perfect timing though, because he chose the exact moment that Peggy was finally smiling to come in and declare, "Agent Thompson is going to pull through; he's waking up, if you want to go see him."


	24. Chapter 24

Edwin was fairly certain that he'd never seen Peggy move so quickly as she jostled Daniel into wakefulness while he did the same with Mr. Stark, who had steadfastly refused all attempts at getting him to go home.

"We can go see him," Peggy said, two inches from Daniel's face and trembling.

"Do you want my crutch or something?" he asked, tiredly, shoving up onto his feet as Angie roused Anna.

"I _want_ to go see my husband, please and thank you," she snapped.

Daniel nodded and moved towards the hallway with her. "Agreed."

Two minutes later, six people were piled into Jack's tiny hospital room. The last one to go in, Daniel shut the door behind them as Peggy folded herself gently onto the side of the bed, brushing blonde hair off of Jack's forehead as she asked gently, "How are you feeling, darling?"

"Like someone shot me in the gut," he deadpanned.

"Don't worry," Howard spoke up from where he stood at the end of the hospital bed. "We're going to take care of whoever did this to you."

Jack's eye widened and he paled even further then he already was, and he startled them all when he snapped urgently, "No!"

"Sweetheart, whoever he is, he _shot_ you," Anna reminded him, taking his hand that Peggy wasn't already clasping.

"You don't understand," Jack rasped, shaking his head viciously. "He said- he was- Oh god. It was Lieutenant Barnes; he's the one who shot me. He said my soulmark words… he shot me, and then he knocked me unconscious. This is the next thing I remember."

"Jack," Daniel drawled slowly, obviously not believing him. "You're exhausted and were maybe even hallucinating after you were shot."

"A dream brought on by the anesthetic?" Edwin offered.

"No!" Jack snarled, jerking his bare right arm into the air as he pointed at the gray words there. "He _knew Peggy_ ; he got that startled look in his eye – you know the one I mean – and he said these exact words to me before he knocked me out."

"Jackie," Daniel started patiently.

"Shut up, Susan," Jack snapped predictably. "And answer me this. I don't know what he is now, but he _was_ there to kill me and he had the air of a man who'd killed many times over, so what I want to know is why, if he isn't our soulmate, would he leave me alive? He shot me once; I hit the floor. He stood over me and could've shot me in the head and finished me but he didn't. So I want you to tell me why." Silence met his demand and he said, "Exactly. Let's face it, we _all_ know Barnes and Rogers aren't dead; they're out there somewhere. That's why our marks haven't faded."

"But they would've tried to find one another," Daniel pointed out. "Or Peggy, for that matter, and we would've heard about it by now."

What if…" Peggy shuddered at the very thought. "What if they… _can't_ come to us?"

"POWs?" Anna murmured, wide-eyed.

Jack shook his head. "Barnes is no POW… I don't think. He wasn't dressed like it, from what I saw… but his eyes." He scanned the faces in the room as he finally stated inadequately, "There was something wrong in them… like he was," he winced. "Dead – or dazed."

"Drunk?" Daniel hazarded.

Again Jack shook his head and Peggy whispered faintly, "Brainwashed?"

"What?" Angie choked out.

Peggy turned her head to look at the men in the room, asking painfully, "What if it was HYDRA or something of the like? Dr. Ivchenko could brainwash people; who's to say that's not what they're doing to Bucky… or Steve?"

"They disappeared at different times," Howard finally reminded her at length. "Though I'm not about to strike anything out, it's highly unlikely that we'll find them together if there's actually something controlling them. Being around your soulmate is said to keep you grounded, right? If we're going with your line of thinking here, their being together would make it harder for them to be controlled."

"Then maybe they're in two _separate_ HYDRA bases!" Peggy snapped.

Howard raked his hands over his face before demanding tiredly, "Can you describe the shooter, Thompson? Give me something to work with here."

" _Barnes_. Unkempt hair down to his jaw, black tactical gear uniform, and a gun I've never seen before in my life, but still Barnes." He paused, before admitting the craziest part of this: "And he had a metal arm."

Jack expected them all to look at him like he'd lost it, but that didn't happen. Instead, Howard exchanged a look with Eddie and Angie drawled suspiciously, "What?"

Howard sighed, glanced at Daniel, and answered, "You remember when you arrested me, how I said I was going to help you with your leg, right, Sousa?"

"Sure."

"So, I made blueprints for a robotic – metal – leg…"

"Don't tell me it was stolen," Peggy begged.

Howard took a deep breath, muttering, "Then I won't tell you."

"You think that they reworked the blueprints to work for an arm and it ended up on Bucky Barnes?" Angie summarized uncertainly.

"That seems a little far-flung," Daniel said.

"Like Mr. Stark said," Edwin asked. "In our world, are we really going to cross off any possibilities?"

Silence descended again until Howard said firmly, "Regardless, it really doesn't matter. I am going to find Steve, I am going to find Bucky, and I am going to find this shooter. If Bucky and the shooter are the same guy-"

"They are," Jack insisted.

"Then that bridge will be crossed when we come to it," Howard finished. "But only once we find them – and we _will_ find them."

"Howard, we've talked about this," Peggy reminded him gently, looking caught between pity and hope – the same way she always did when he got caught up in this subject.

"No, Jack finally said it; they _are_ alive, they _are_ out there, and we _will_ find them… it's the least I can do to… atone."

"Howard…"

"And until then," Howard said, suddenly stretching a bright smile across his face. "I redrew those blueprints, Agent Sousa. How about you come by my place after you're all back at yourselves and we'll discuss it?"

"I'd like that," Daniel agreed, going along with the subject change.

"Great!" Howard gave one more general nod as a parting gesture, shoved his hands in his pockets, and made his way out of the room. "I'll see you all soon!"

Once Howard was gone, Edwin placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder and advised, "Don't get too excited yet; those plans are still in a rather rudimentary phase."

Daniel shrugged. "That's alright; I can be patient for something that I wasn't expecting to get in the first place. It'll be worth it in the end, I'm sure."

"True enough," Peggy said with a shrug, biting her lip as she stared thoughtfully at the door that Howard had closed behind him.

Sensing something of her thoughts, Angie reached over and hugged her from behind. Daniel sat down on bed behind Anna and took her free hand, and Edwin completed their nearly subconscious chain when he put his hands on Angie's shoulders. In the middle of a troubled moment like this one, it often helped when they could simply all be together… but even then they never felt quite… whole. Though they were all happy to have the soulmates that they did, their bond still wasn't complete… and the sad truth was that there was nothing that could make the bond truly whole save for their two missing soulmates.

* * *

 **Thanks for R &R-ing! TBC: stay tuned for the sequel - a Captain America/Avengers crossover, Pieces of the Puzzle!**


	25. Author's Note

AN: Chapters 12 and 16 of this story were edited on 9/17/15.


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